Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion Part 2
by Medieval Maniak
Summary: Year one is over and a lot has happened to the quartet. What does the summer and second year hold for our young friends. They will embark on a journey to find their inner power and with the help of Aurora and Gabrielle, they will discover what it means to be a true warrior. Rated M for graphic violence and very sugestive situations. It is recommended to read part one first.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Harry Potter universe. Only my own ideas and characters belong to me.

i would like to give all credit of correcting my grammar mistakes to my Beta; dealyflame who is doing an amazing job in correcting my work.

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 1

As soon as Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny left the train, they spotted Aurora and Gabrielle and they slowly made their way towards were the adults were standing.

Lord Ragnok gave them a toothy grin and said, "I heard that you four will be our interns for the next week?" The quartet nodded silently and Ragnok grinned, "Good. I will expect the four of you tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp."

The goblin leader nodded to Aurora and Gabrielle and took a small stone out of his pocket. He held it in his fist muttered a word in gobbledegook and vanished. Aurora and Gabrielle led the quartet off of the platform, back to the muggle part of the station. They made their way towards the main entrance where they were awaited by one of Elizabeth's cars.

The black limousine made its way towards Buckingham palace. When they rode past St. James's Park they were surprised to find a large crowd of reporters and news vans blocking the gates.

Aurora lowered the window which separated them from the driver and asked, "Do you know what is going on? Is her majesty going to make an announcement or something?"

The MMS agent who was driving the car raised his shoulder and said, "I do not know ma'am. They were not here when I left an hour ago, so whatever the reason they are here, it is recent."

Aurora thanked him and closed the window again, while the driver slowed down and carefully made his way towards the gathered crowd.

Gabrielle took a remote control from beneath a TV screen and put it on BBC 1.

A blond news reporter appeared on the screen and she said in an excited voice. _"Earlier this afternoon, an anonymous source brought out the news that her majesty Queen Elizabeth, has a grand nephew._ _This_ _nephew, named Harry Potter, was the son of sir James Potter, only child of princess Victoria and her mysterious husband, Lord Arturius Potter. The young James, his wife Lily and their newborn son, were assumed to have been killed in the last of the terrorist attacks, which also claimed the lives of_ _Princess_ _Victoria and her husband, that plagued our land a decade ago._ _But_ _it now_ _turn_ _s out that Harry somehow survived the horrible attack that claimed the lives of his parents. It is revealed that the boy has been raised by two members of her majesty's military guard. The identity of these guards are as of yet unknown, but it is assumed that they are the two mysterious women who trailed her majesty during the 5 years of terror."_

A picture was shows on the screen and it clearly showed Aurora and Gabrielle walking behind Elizabeth and wearing the familiar military uniforms of the Legion. It was taken during one of Aurora and Gabrielle's few moments of public duty, where it was too crowded for the Angels to be able to perform the task.

" _I would like to ask anyone who knows anything about these two women to come forward, as the people deserve to know who they are and why they were entrusted to raise a member of the royal family. The anonymous tip also mentioned that young Harry has spent the last year_ _in_ _a boarding school in Scotland and was scheduled to return to_ _King's_ _Cross_ _station, sometime today. It is unknown which school is meant as there are..."_ the woman stopped talking abruptly and held her hand to her ear. She seemed to listen to something coming from her earpiece. " _I just heard that a limousine, with the royal coat of arms has picked up a group of people at Kings cross station, and the two unknown women seem to have been amongst them. If this is true than we could be about to receive our first look on this mysterious young member of the royal family, as said limousine is approaching Buckingham_ _Palace_ _as we speak."_

The camera turned away from the reporter and showed the black limousine driving past St. James's park. "Oh crap," the kids chuckled at Aurora´s remark and Gabrielle cursed softly under her breath.

Aurora rolled down the window again and told the driver, "Turn around, full speed, secondary entrance St. James's park." The driver nodded once and in an incredible manoeuvre, which no muggle driver could perform, he turned the limousine around and sped towards the entrance to the park.

Just as they were about to enter the park, the driver pushed a button on his dashboard and the floor beneath the entrance disappeared. They drove down a ramp and into a well-lit tunnel, while the secret door closed behind them.

"Won't anyone have seen us disappear," asked Ginny to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle shook her head and said, "Don't worry the entrance is hidden by notice-me-not charms, so only those who know it is there, can actually see it when it opens. To the muggle world we just pulled of a successful disappearing act."

The four kids grinned but stopped abruptly when they saw the serious looks on the adults' faces. They shared a look between the four of them and Harry asked carefully, "What's wrong mom?"

Aurora let out a sigh and said, "The situation is far worse than you four can imagine Harry." The quartet looked confused, so Aurora explained further, "When your paternal grandparents were killed, James and Lily made a very hard decision. They deliberately severed every bond they still had with the royal family and vanished from public life. They did this to save both you and Elizabeth, as they knew how much the death of her sister had hurt Elizabeth. If the Death Eaters got their hands on James, Lily and you, they would gain full control of Elizabeth. She would have done anything they demanded in order to save you three, as you were all that was left of her beloved sister.

So James and Lily asked us to look after Elizabeth, before they vanished from both the magical and muggle world. When the Fidelius charm had been put in place, only four people knew where they were located, Dumbledore as he performed the charm. Sirius, Remus and..."

"Pettigrew," snarled Harry in reply.

Aurora nodded and continued with her explanation. "Now that the news is out, the whole world will know that you are her lost family member, and all those who mean _her_ harm, will come after _you_."

The quartet paled at this and Harry stammered, "So you.. you.. mean tha... that...," he was unable to complete his question as Hermione, Fleur and Ginny hugged him with tears of fear in their eyes.

Her eyes wet with tears, Gabrielle nodded and said softly, "Yes Harry. Every hostile nation or organisation in the world, will be going after you, to hurt her. And we're not only speaking about Death Eaters, but other magical organisations and muggles as well."

Aurora agreed sadly and said, softly, "That's not even all of it. If they put that picture of Gabrielle and me through their archives, they will undoubtedly find others of us. Images of maybe decades or even centuries ago. Images that show us exactly as we look today. They will hunt us down, to discover out secret. I only hope that there is anything we can do to stop this."

The group stayed silent for the rest of the trip and when they reached the literal end of the line, the driver stopped the limo. He opened his window and said a short passphrase in a microphone on the wall, causing the floor to rise beneath them.

They were standing on a car-elevator, which brought them to the subterranean garage, in which they normally would have arrived.

They left the car and saw that they were awaited by Elizabeth, who was being followed by the "top-squad", the best agents the MSS had to offer. Remus, Sirius, Kingsley, McAndrews and Moody, led by Amelia. They were waiting with drawn wands and looking everywhere for possible threats.

As soon as Elizabeth saw Harry step from the car, she ran to him and enveloped him in a hug. She looked at him with tears in her eyes and saw the fear in his. She swallowed once and slowly released Harry. Standing up, she looked at Aurora and Gabrielle, with steel in her eyes and said, "Execute Order 66".

Aurora and Gabrielle looked shocked to hear this and swallowed before Aurora said, "You mean..."

Elizabeth didn't move and just said "Yes. do it."

No one, except Aurora, Gabrielle and Elizabeth knew what they were talking about and when Harry opened his mouth to ask about it, Gabrielle shook her head and said, "No Harry. Do not ask about this."

She looked down at Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny and shed a single tear. "Stay with Elizabeth. Do not, under any circumstance, leave this palace, before we return. We will send reinforcements from Avalon as soon as we get there."

She swallowed once and enveloped the quartet in a crushing hug. "Remember, no matter what happens today, we will always love you."

Aurora took over from Gabrielle and also hugged the four children. "Stay with Elizabeth, do not trust anyone, except our family and the Legionnaires. We love you all, so much." The two Angels stood up with the looks of people who were going to their own doom and Harry clamped himself at Aurora's legs, unwilling to let her go.

"NO," he cried, "don't leave us". Hermione, Fleur and Ginny joined him and they clamped themselves to Aurora and Gabrielle, making it impossible for them to leave.

With tears running down their cheeks, Aurora and Gabrielle placed a hand on the neck of each of the kids who held them and pressed a certain nerve. The quartet slumped down and were caught just before they hit the ground.

They handed the kids to the 'Top-squad', removed all of their wands and guns and handed them to Elizabeth. Aurora added, "Don't return these before Dan gets here, he can talk some sense into them." And leaving a confused group and saddened Queen behind, they flamed away.

When Harry and the girls woke up half an hour later, they found themselves in the familiar sitting room lying on the couches and guarded by at least thirty soldiers, in familiar white skull masks.

Harry sat up straight and with a soft voice, dripping of anger he said, "Where are my mother's?"

The girls were also awake by now and sat up next to him. Two of the masked soldiers before them turned to face them and removed their masks, it was Dan and Ivan.

Hermione launched herself at her father and started pounding on his chest and began yelling, "Where are they, where are they".

Dan grabbed his daughter's arms and said sadly, "We don't know. They arrived at Avalon half an hour ago and sent the entire Legion, all 6000 soldiers, to Buckingham palace. They just told us to bring everything we had, tanks, EXO's, artillery, everything, and prepare for war."

Harry rose up, with Fleur and Ginny on either side of him and in the same cold voice as before he said, "Then who does know where they are?"

"I do", came a soft voice from the entrance. They all looked towards the entrance and saw Amelia standing in the doorway. "I just received word, the Ministry is under attack. Fudge is reporting heavy casualties and is recalling all available forces to defend the Ministry building. They have declared war on magical Britain."

All occupants of the room, both masked and unmasked, gasped in shock at hearing this and Harry stuttered, "But... but.. but... why?"

Amelia softly shook her head and said, "I wish I knew Mister Potter, but unless I go there I cannot tell you. And I will _not_ go there, while they are on a killing spree. All we can do is wait and prepare for a counter attack. Whether from the ministry, or the Death Eaters I do not know. But I do know that they will be coming."

Amelia's words proved to be true, because barely 15 minutes later, the first casualties had fallen.

The legion had come with everything they had. The grounds of Buckingham palace were turned into a military encampment, with over 200 tanks, thousands of soldiers and an impressive amount of helicopters.

The area's surrounding the palace had been cleared for a mile and all civilians had been ordered to clear the area in expectance of the arrival of a hostile force.

The legion erected portable barricades on Constitution Hill, around the bend in front of the Victoria memorial and onto Spur Road, creating a rough triangle in front of the palace. The Mammoths had been placed around the memorial, to take the brunt of the attack and the chieftains were spread out around the perimeter of the palace.

Black thunder clouds had appeared out of nowhere and the rain was pouring from the heavens, while the Legion waited to meet its foe.

When the helicopters located the first ranks of black robed Death Eaters approaching, they opened fire without hesitation.

The Death Eaters advanced from the directions of Green park, St. James's park and The Guards Museum. They were attempting a half moon envelopment of the barricaded palace.

Soon after the first ranks had been shot to shreds, thousands more appeared, both humans and all sort of magical creatures, all enemies of the Legion had come to try and take it out, in the absence of the hated and feared Angels.

Vampires, trolls, giants, acromantula and even a few dragons stormed towards the gates of the palace.

They were met by a brutal artillery bombardment, as 180 Chieftain tanks, 28 Mammoths and several batteries of howitzers opened fire upon them.

The Death Eaters used all kinds of tactics to protect themselves from the tank shells and artillery fire. Some erected large stone walls, but those were destroyed. Others conjured large objects to cover them during their advance.

It took only a few minutes before the first ranks of Death Eaters and dark creatures were upon them. The fighting was brutal, as neither side was willing to show mercy and many a friend or family member was killed during the first half hour of fighting.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had been given back their wands and guns. They had wanted to follow Dan and Ivan, as they had left them to lead their respective companies, but Elizabeth had forbidden it. So now they were cooped up in the MSS HQ, waiting for news about the battle outside.

They had not received word from either Dan, Ivan or Anderson since the battle had started. Hermione was worried about her father and the others were frustrated that they were not allowed to fight.

Dan and Ivan had been positioned in the centre, around the Victoria Memorial and behind the line of tanks. Sergei was leading his own platoon and stood on the right wing of Ivan's company.

Their companies were the only ones who had been outfitted with EXO's, as they were the ones who had used them in Africa. They had been placed at the front line to take the brunt of the enemy force with the power of the EXO's at their command.

Commander Anderson was coordinating the Legion forces from a command post on the roof, to give him a clear view of the battle field and the positions of the opposing forces. What he saw was not good.

The Legionnaires were holding their ground for now, but just barely. Despite their technological advantage and heavy weapons, they were slowly being pushed back by the sheer numbers of the Death Eaters. From the looks of it, the Death Eaters alone outnumbered them two to one and there was maybe an equal amount of dark creatures.

Almost half the Chieftains and 9 Mammoths had been taken out in the first hour of battle and the rest was pulling back to close the gaps in their lines.

The thunderstorm and the rains had caused the ground on which the Death Eaters advanced, to turn muddy and slippery. The blood and the corpses further troubled the Death Eaters during their advance and many were killed when they slipped on the remains of a former comrades in arms.

After nearly two hours of intense fighting, there came a sound from behind Anderson and he turned around. When he saw who it was he let out a sigh and said, "it's about goddamn time you got here."

When Aurora and Gabrielle had left, they flamed directly into Anderson's office and found him in debate with Boltrock and several Legion officers.

Anderson threw one look at the faces of the Angels and he paled. Also noticing the arrival of their leaders, the others stepped aside, so everyone could see them. Aurora stepped forward and said softly, "We have new orders."

Anderson swallowed and said, "Is it...,"

Aurora nodded once and replied, "Yes. Execute Order 66."

All the others paled as well and Boltrock asked, "What do you need."

Gabrielle stepped next to Aurora and replied, "Everything. Bring everything you have and take positions around the palace. We're at war. You all know what to do."

The group saluted and Anderson began giving orders through his earpiece, while the others left in a hurry. Aurora and Gabrielle flamed away again and reappeared next to the training fields, where Dan and Ivan were training with their companies.

They had already received their new orders, as both were yelling orders to their respective soldiers and were hurrying towards the vault.

When they saw Aurora and Gabrielle appear, both men turned around and ran towards them. "What's going on", asked Dan when they were still several yards away.

"We're at war", was the first reply from Aurora and both men stopped dead in their tracks.

"What happened," this time it was Ivan who asked the question and Gabrielle answered him.

"No time to tell you. Get geared up and hurry to the palace. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny are with Elizabeth. Calm them down and keep them save."

Before either Dan or Ivan could respond, both women flamed away again and reappeared at Potter manor. They had already moved everything from Hogwarts back to the manor, so their armour was in their wardrobe.

Dressing in record time they each put on the black armour and all of their weapons. When they were done, Aurora pressed a small button on the back of the wardrobe and a panel slid open.

It revealed a small arsenal and both women took several spare magazines for their SILH's and put them in an empty pouch on their belts. Closing the panel again, Aurora turned around and after donning their red skull masks, she took her wife's hand and they flamed away again.

They reappeared in front of a familiar red telephone booth and they hurried inside. When the metallic voice began to speak, Aurora drew one of her SILH's and shot the speaker, before it could finish its first word.

Gabrielle growled out, "Shut up and go down." The elevator obeyed and sunk down in the ground.

When the elevator arrived at the atrium, they stepped out and were met by a short woman in a pink robe and a large black bow on her head. The highly dislikeable figure of Dolores Umbridge paled when she saw the masks and stuttered out, "Wha... wha... what are you... you doing here?"

The entire atrium was silent as a grave while they waited for the answer. Aurora didn't bother to reply with words though, with a lightning fast move she drew her swords and decapitated the undersecretary with a scissor move. "I always hated her," was the only thing she said.

Before the headless body had fallen on the ground, panic erupted in the atrium. The two people who had stood next to Umbridge when she had been killed tried to run away but slipped on the quickly forming puddle of blood that spurted from the neck stump. Before they made it three feet, both had been killed. They joined Umbridge on the floor.

Aurora and Gabrielle walked forward towards the mass of panicking witches and wizards who had been blocked off from most ways of escape.

In the mean time someone had hit the alarm as loud sirens started blurting out the alarms, and the security wizards were streaming towards the atrium.

Aurora and Gabrielle raised their arms in an identical move, they began to make punching moves. Large fire blasts shot out from their fists and were send at the mass of witches and wizards in front of them, killing dozens.

After a few minutes the aurors and hit wizards had begun to arrive on the scene. What they found reminded the veterans of the massacres they had seen during the first wizarding war and caused the rookies to lose their lunch or faint.

By then the atrium had been turned into a war zone. Dozens upon dozens of bodies covered the floor, most were burned or had gaping wounds, where broken tiles or pieces of fireplaces had hit them.

Aurora and Gabrielle were covered from head to toe with blood and gore. They advanced slowly through the atrium, killing everyone who tried to stop them. When the aurors and hit wizards saw who they were facing, many lost their nerve and tried to flee.

Fudge had arrived at the scene and was yelling orders at his law enforcers. "Advance. Kill them. As your Minister for Magic, I am ordering you to kill them. They are nothing but murderers who deserve only dea..." Before he could finish his sentence, Gabrielle aimed one of her SILH's at him and shot him straight through the head, causing it to explode outward as the hellfire round destroyed his skull.

A few of the darker sided ministry employees had managed to escape and alerted the Death Eaters of what was going on at the Ministry. Deciding that their time had come, they gathered in force and marched on the palace, to take advantage of the absence of the Angels and try to kill both Harry and Elizabeth, while simultaneously destroying the Legion.

When the aurors and hit wizards realised that they would not be able to escape, they rallied behind Rufus Scrimgeour, who led them in a brave, but stupid, full frontal attack.

Scrimgeour was the first to die, as he was hit by a fire blast and crumbled to the ground, only his legs and lower torso still intact. The others were quickly shot down by either fire or bullet, while Aurora and Gabrielle pressed their relentless advance.

Despite what everyone said about them, they did not enjoy hurting and killing people, especially those that were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Making their way towards the stairwell, they killed everyone who opposed them, but let them flee if they didn't attack. They fought their way down a floor, and headed towards the Department of Mysteries.

As they walked in to the long black corridor, a volley of spells and curses missed them barely and they saw Croaker and his Unspeakables standing before the door to the department.

Gabrielle raised her hand and a thin wall of blue flames appeared before her and Aurora, shielding them from the impressive barrage of spells sent at them by Croaker and his Unspeakables.

"If you let us into the department without opposition, we will not harm you." Yelled Aurora through the hallway, "Try to stop us and we will be forced to kill you all."

The only response they got was an intensifying of the barrage of curses, which had turned from light grey to borderline dark, as killing curses and Cruciatus curses were sent their way. Croaker himself even tried to breach their firewall with Fiendfyre, but it all proved useless as the wall of living flames absorbed everything that hit it.

Slowly walking forward, Gabrielle kept the wall up while Aurora punched it, sending fireballs at the Unspeakables. They tried to block them, but just as Dumbledore had failed, so did they. Everyone who was hit by one of the fireballs was consumed by it and after a few minutes only Croaker was left standing.

"WHO ARE YOU?" he yelled at them as they reached him. Aurora disarmed him and when he sat kneeling before them, she removed her mask and showed him her face.

The furious look on Croakers face disappeared as he recognised Aurora. "So it is you. When I saw the picture this morning I realised that you were likely to be the Angels. I assume you have come to rewrite history?"

Aurora nodded and said, "Yes Saul, we have. We cannot allow so many innocents to die, because some idiot decided to make some money by selling a story to the press."

Croaker nodded and said, "I know who you need to get and where he will be." He told them the information they needed and finished by saying, "Now finish the job you have come here to do. You never broke your word before, and now is not a good moment to begin. Kill me and I'll see you two, eight hours ago."

Aurora and Gabrielle inclined their heads in respect, and Gabrielle said, "Thank you for your help Saul," before Aurora grabbed his head and broke his neck in one swift move.

Softly lowering the head of the DOM to the floor, Aurora and Gabrielle donned their masks again and stepped over the bodies of the Unspeakables. The aurors and the hit wizard had been slaughtered like lambs, but the Unspeakables had put up more resistance than anyone in the last 150 years. It pained them that they had to kill them, but there had been no other way.

When they stepped through the door to the department, they arrived in the circular room with the twelve doors. "I always hated this room," sighed Aurora tiredly. "You only hate it because it is one of the few things we cannot influence."

Aurora rolled her eyes beneath her mask but Gabrielle knew it nonetheless and added, "Don't roll your eyes at me, you know it's true." Aurora just shrugged and opened the nearest door.

It revealed a sort of amphitheatre with a large stone arc in the centre. "Nope, death room". She drew a dagger and carved a large X in the door, before closing it.

As soon as the door was closed, the walls turned around and they waited patiently until they had stopped moving.

Gabrielle tried the next door and revealed a large, cathedral like room with rows upon rows of towering shelves, filled with small glass orbs. "Nope, prophecy room." She carved an X on the door and closed it, causing the walls to go spinning again.

When they stopped, Aurora pulled open a door and revealed a dark room with floating planets. "Nope, space room".

The next door they tried didn't open and they said in unison, "love room." before moving onto the next room.

Gabrielle pushed the door open and said triumphantly, "Bingo, time room."

They entered the long rectangular room and headed straight for the glass cabinet with Time-Turners. Picking up the nearest one, Gabrielle placed it around her neck, while Aurora opened one of the pouches on her belt and withdrew a long thin box.

The box was about 3 inches high, 3 inches deep and four ft long. "I really like those bottomless pouches Boltrock invented." Aurora remarked, while Gabrielle helped her to open the many small clasps that closed the box.

When they opened the lid, they revealed several dozen small squares, lined with soft wool padding. One by one, all the Time-turners were removed from their shelves and placed in the box.

When the last had been removed, they shut the lid and closed all the clasps again. Gabrielle helped Aurora to place the box back into the pouch and when they were done, Gabrielle took her partners hand and they flamed away.

They had one more thing to do, before they could rewrite time.

Author's note:

I know I know, was it really necessary to kill off fan favourite characters such as Pudgy and the Umbitch, well no, but I liked to do it anyway.

If any of you are wondering why they didn't just flame into the time room, instead of killing half the ministry, then the answer is simple. The DOM is surrounded by the same wards as Hogwarts. Meaning they can flame out, but they cannot flame in.

The reason why it was relatively easy for Aurora and Gabrielle to break into the ministry and dispose of all the aurors and hit wizards, is because those are second rank troops. Amelia has sent the best to the MSS, so the ones still employed by the DMLE are greatly inferior to Death Eaters and MSS agents.

This is also shown when the Death Eaters attack Buckingham palace. Had they been normal witches and wizards, they never would have stood a chance against the fire power of the Legion.

The Death Eaters and the Unspeakables used very powerful dark magic to fight the Legion and the Angels, magic that is forbidden by the ICW. This makes them much more powerful and more dangerous than 'normal' law abiding citizens.

As for if you are wondering why they took all the Time-turners, it is because they think they are too dangerous to be used by anyone. Even for Aurora and Gabrielle, who never liked doing it in the first place.

The Time-turners in my version are different than in cannon, as they are centuries old and the secret to make them had been lost for just as long. The only ones in the world were held by the DOM, who gathered them over the ages. Also, only one version can exist in the timeline, so if one gets destroyed, it vanishes from the time line and is gone forever.

Oh and by the way, this will be the first and ONLY time they use the Time-turners, so don't expect to see them appear again.

See you all next week

Medieval Maniak.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 2

The battle was not going well, that much was clear as commander Anderson stood in his command post on the roof. The outer lines had already been overrun and the legion had been forced to pull back to the courtyard before the palace. Leaving hundreds of fallen behind.

On the front lines, Dan was beginning to lose hope. The giants and trolls had broken through on the centre and his and Ivan's companies had been decimated. Sergei was amongst the first casualties as the he tried to help one of his soldiers, and was crushed by the club of a giant.

Ivan was desperately trying to keep his soldiers together as they were trying to bring down the giants with concentrated rifle fire. The giants and trolls were wielding large rudimentary shields made from trees that they used to block the rifle fire allowing them to reach the front lines with few casualties amongst them and cause large numbers of casualties amongst the Legionnaires.

The acromantula had been the first to reach the lines but the Mammoths had taken most of them out with their flamethrowers. In turn, massive volleys of blasting curses and Fiendfyre had taken out most of the chieftain tanks. While the Mammoths had been pushed back by the trolls, who used brute force to destroy them, but at the cost of more than 20 trolls per tank.

The large tracks of the Mammoths were hampering their manoeuvrability, as pieces of broken asphalt and rubble got stuck between the links, causing them to get stuck and become immobile. Leaving them vulnerable to the trolls.

To Anderson's dismay, casualty levels kept rising and they had already lost hundreds in the first hour alone. He could only hope that Aurora and Gabrielle would hurry up, so they could avoid this from ever happening.

Suddenly he heard a soft noise behind him and turned around. Letting out a sigh he said, "It's about goddamn time you got here. Things are not going well." Aurora and Gabrielle had landed directly behind him and he saw Gabrielle wore a small hourglass on a long golden chain around her neck.

"I see you were successful," he sighed and indicating the battle below them he added, "I don't know how long you need, but we are getting slaughtered down there."

Aurora nodded and said, "I'll go even the scales then." After giving Gabrielle a loving kiss, Aurora ran to the end of the roof and jumped off it. Changing in mid-air she landed between the trolls that were tearing up Dan's and Ivan's companies.

Opening her mouth, she unleashed a torrent of red fire and burned half the trolls in front of her. When they saw the dragon shape of Aurora land between them, the Legionnaires regrouped and charged forward.

Dan and Ivan had a moment to breath and thanked Aurora with a short salute, as they rallied their remaining soldiers and led them forwards.

Aurora was still amongst the wreckage that was left of the Victoria Memorial, when she was attacked by the enemy dragons. Two Hebridean Blacks, one Romanian Longhorn and a Peruvian Vipertooth.

The Hebrideans landed straight on her and tried to force her to the ground, opening her up for attacks by the Longhorn and the Vipertooth. One of the Hebrideans was unlucky enough to land directly on her tail, which swung up and crashed him into the other Hebridean, causing them to fall off her.

Turning to face her new opponents, Aurora unleashed a torrent of fire at the nearest Hebridean. The dragon jumped up to avoid it, causing the fire to fly on and incinerate the remains of a large tree.

The longhorn was the first to try his luck and tried to take a bite out of her neck. Aurora dodged the bite and caught the longhorn's own neck between her massive jaws. When she bit down, the longhorn thrashed in pain, until her jaws snapped shut and the decapitated remains of the dragon fell on the ground.

Letting out a mighty roar Aurora challenged the other three to come at her, which they did as one. The Hebrideans charged at her and each caught one of her front legs between their jaws.

Meanwhile the Vipertooth had lunged at her neck and was clawing at the thick scales that covered her muscular shoulders. Tearing them off with its claws, Aurora roared in pain as her hide was torn open. The two dragons latched onto her front legs and were biting down, trying to sever them.

Seeing the plight of Aurora, Dan and Ivan led fifty of their remaining soldiers and opened fire on the nearest Hebridean. The hellfire rounds were not powerful enough to break through its scales, but the napalm stuck to its skin and a few bullets hit its wings, tearing large holes in the thin membrane.

The Hebridean roared in pain and that was all the distraction Aurora needed. She ripped her front leg from the Hebrideans mouth, opening large and very deep gashes on the limb. Knocking the dragon down, she raised her claw and ripped at the dragon's head, tearing it apart and crushing the skull.

With one front leg free, Aurora was able to tear the Vipertooth from her neck. She grabbed the smaller dragon in her right paw and closed her jaws on its squirming neck. Pulling her head away, she ripped the dragon's head of and tossed the body at the nearest clutch of Death Eaters, crushing them beneath it.

The last dragon had released her and was trying to escape when Aurora turned her attention towards it. She jumped after it and grabbed its tail with her right claw. Dragging the dragon back, she grabbed its head with her left claw and crushed the skull with the sheer strength of her claw.

Letting the head drop, she strengthened her grip on the tail and started swinging it around, felling giants and trolls alike, as she tore through the Death Eaters' ranks. Now that their most powerful allies had been killed, the Death Eaters lost hope and started their retreat.

Leaving thousands of dead, they started aparating away, leaving the dark creatures to be slaughtered by the remaining Legionnaires.

When the last of their enemies had been destroyed, the exhausted remains of the Legion gathered before the ruined gates of Buckingham palace. The hundreds of wounded were being treated by the Legion combat healers.

Elizabeth had finally allowed Harry and the girls to leave the palace and the kids rushed into the throng of healers and soldiers before the gates, looking for their parents. They found Dan at the side of a bed on which lay Ivan.

The giant Russian had lost his left arm to a vampire, while he tried to cover Dan's side as he was shooting the Hebridean latched to Aurora's right front leg. The kids slumped down as they saw their 'uncle' lying on the bed.

"Where... where are my mothers," asked Harry as soon as Dan realised they were there.

First he hugged his daughter and then the others while he said, "I don't know Harry. I only saw Aurora, but she disappeared soon after she tore those dragons apart".

"DRAGONS," exclaimed the quartet as one.

"Long story, don't ask. Let's just find her and Gabrielle first." While Dan said this, Gabrielle came running towards them.

It shocked them all to see how she looked. She was covered from head to toe in blood and her face spoke fear and worry.

As soon as Gabrielle reached them, she grabbed Harry and hugged him tight. "Thank Merlin you four are safe." Turning to Dan she asked fearfully, "Where is Aurora, I can't sense her anymore."

The others went wide eyed with shock as they heard this and Dan began giving orders through his earpiece. All around them the legionnaires who were unharmed, or only lightly wounded rushed towards the battlefield to search for their missing leader.

Gabrielle and the kids likewise rushed towards the corpse-strewn battlefield to search for their partner and mother. After maybe five minutes of frantic searching they heard someone yell and draw attention. They had found her.

The group rushed towards were she was and from all sides soldiers and healers rushed towards the same place.

Aurora was in her human form again and laying with her legs beneath the ruined torso of a troll. The Legionnaires who had found her were trying to remove the carcass but it was too heavy.

As soon as Gabrielle arrived, she pushed the Legionnaires aside and incinerated the carcass in a matter of seconds. Now that the corpse was off her, they could see the extent of Aurora's injuries.

Fleur fainted and Hermione and Ginny had to throw up at the sight, while Harry just stood still, to shocked to even move.

Aurora's gauntlets were ripped open on her forearms, showing long deep cuts that went to and through the bones. Her legs were broken on several places by the weight of the troll and she wasn't moving.

Her chest plate was still intact but the shoulders and back plate were torn to shreds, the flesh and muscles beneath them ripped apart by vicious claws. Most disturbingly, a sickly orange fluid was dripping from the wounds on her back and shoulders.

Gabrielle was hysterical and hovered above the ruined body of her wife. "No, no, no, no, no this cannot be true. You can't die, not now, not when we finally have the family we always dreamed about."

"Mom", Harry's soft voice was heard by everyone as the silence on the field was deafening. When Gabrielle looked up at her son he added, "What... what is that orange stuff in her wounds?"

Looking again at her wife's wounds, Gabrielle noticed the orange fluid she had missed the first time. Cursing loudly, she turned to Dan and asked, "What kind of dragons did she fight?"

Dan thought shortly and said, "Two Hebrideans, a Longhorn and a relatively small, smooth-scaled, copper-coloured dragon." Several of the present healers gasped as they recognised the description.

"Vipertooth", whispered Gabrielle softly, as she realised the same thing. Planting a soft kiss on Aurora's unmoving lips, Gabrielle turned her around and said, "Hold her."

Dan, Sirius, Remus and Kingsley responded and carefully took hold of Aurora. Turning her around she laid face down on Gabrielle's lap. Gabrielle undid the clasps keeping the armour in place and removed the torn back and shoulder plates and gauntlets. Ripping open the silk undershirt she removed the pieces of torn silk from the wounds and removed the ruined bra beneath it.

Closing her eyes, Gabrielle placed her hands on the torn flesh on her partner's back. A soft blue glow appeared as Gabrielle began to slowly clean the wounds by burning out the Vipertooth's venom. Stinking orange mist rose from the wounds as the poison was burned away, leaving clean open flesh behind.

As soon as the poison was gone, Aurora's healing kicked in and the clean flesh and muscles started healing before their eyes, leaving only soft pink skin behind. When her back and shoulders were once again whole, Aurora gasped in air and started moving again.

"Oh thank god", exclaimed Dan, at the same time as Harry and the girls said, "Mom." Gabrielle didn't say anything but carefully pulled Aurora up against her chest and hugged her as tight as she dared on account of her wounds.

The large gashes in her forearms were already closing and her legs were mending themselves. The combat healers looked amazed at what they saw, as they had heard about their amazing healing powers, but never saw it in action.

It took a few minutes for the last of her wounds to heal, but when the last gash on her left arm closed, Aurora opened her eyes and smiled softly at Gabrielle. "Hey sweetie. Saved my life again did you." Aurora's soft voice sounded like the laughter of angels to her partner and the kids.

"MOM." Harry and the girls said as one and they threw themselves at Aurora and Gabrielle.

Aurora groaned softly and whispered, "Careful please, still sore." The quartet hurriedly released Aurora and just gathered around them.

"To bad your armour is destroyed," said Dan as he picked up the shredded back plate, only to see it didn't even show a scratch. "How, how," was the only thing he could say and

Gabrielle managed a soft smile. "Our armour is special Dan, it is connected to our bodies, and shares our healing powers."

Gabrielle reattached the pieces of Aurora's armour and helped her sit up. "How are you feeling sweetie?"

Aurora grinned weakly and said softly, "You know me, hard to kill. I'll be fine love, I think we should get a move on, we're running out of time."

When Aurora said the word, 'time', Gabrielle remembered why they had been here in the first place and quickly helped her wife on her feet. Turning to the others she said, "Dan, kids, come with us, we need to see Elizabeth."

They quickly made their way towards the partially destroyed palace. At the gates they were awaited by Elizabeth and the top-squad. Elizabeth looked pleased to see Aurora and Gabrielle and asked, "Were you successful?"

Both Angels nodded and Elizabeth smiled, "Good, then let's get on with it and do the best we can." She led the group towards the familiar sitting room and they all sat down.

Elizabeth turned towards Amelia and said, "Agent Bones, I assume you have many questions, but I ask you to keep silent until the end." Amelia inclined her head and Elizabeth turned towards Aurora and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle reached beneath her chest plate and removed the small golden chain with the hourglass, which she had hidden before she left Anderson.

The top squad immediately recognised the devise and Sirius gasped, "So that's why you went to the ministry."

Gabrielle nodded and replied, "Yes Sirius. We are going to rewrite history and prevent this entire battle from ever happening. I have copied all of commander Anderson's memories of the battle, so we can study them later on and make improvements to our equipment where needed."

"But, won't you messing with history, disrupt the timeline?" asked Kingsley confused.

Aurora grinned and since she had almost fully recovered she said with a hint of humour, "In any normal case that would be true, but Gabrielle and I are different. We are like the Time-turners, we can exist on only one place at once. So if we go back to before the story about Harry was revealed, we can prevent it from ever happening and save thousands of lives, without disrupting the timeline. We have to hurry though because the Time-turners have a max of twelve hours. And only five minutes remain if we want to have enough time to prevent this whole mess. And seeing as none of you will remember any of this, we're off."

Without further ado, Aurora and Gabrielle stood up and Gabrielle put the chain of the Time-turner around Aurora's neck as well. Smiling to the others, they donned their masks and Gabrielle turned the little hourglass twelve times causing the world to spin around them, pulling them out of the present and into the past.

When the world stopped spinning they found themselves in the time room at the DOM. Luckily the room was empty, as was the cabinet that housed the Time-turners.

Grinning beneath their masks, Aurora and Gabrielle set to work. They had to make it look like an accident, as they didn't want anyone asking questions or go looking for them. They stood back-to-back, raised their hands and two large fireballs formed before them.

One blue and one red fireball hovered before them and kept expanding slowly. Lowering their left hands, they joined them together and just as the fireballs were about to hit the floor and ceiling of the room, they flamed away.

Reappearing in Amelia's office a few floors above, they could still feel the explosion in the DOM as the entire ministry shook with the force of it.

They were about to knock, when the door was thrown open and Amelia sped out, running straight into Gabrielle, causing them both to almost fall on the ground. Only Aurora's quickly outstretched arms prevented them from falling down.

Amelia cursed softly until she saw who it was she had crashed into, "I'm so sorry my Lady, are you all right?"

Gabrielle gave her a reassuring smile and said, "I'm all right Amelia, don't worry about it. We have just come to ask you for an official arrest warrant. We know of someone who is about to release a piece of information to the press which could cost thousands of lives, if we don't intercept it."

Amelia nodded slowly and ushered them into her office. Once they all sat down, she aimed her wand at the door and cast wards to prevent anyone from disturbing them or eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Is this official business or Legion business?"

"Legion business," was all Aurora had to say for Amelia to understand. The warrant was to be for capture, dead or alive. With dead the most likely result.

"Who is it about?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared an identical disgusted look and Gabrielle said, "Some filthy rat called Mundungus Fletcher."

At that name Amelia looked up in slight surprise, "Hmm, it's about time someone put a stop to his illegal activities. I suggest you file a complaint telling that he stole something from you, and died tragically when you cornered him and he started a fight. It is the easiest way to solve this."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded agreeing and Aurora said, "Very well, then I would like to report that a certain Mundungus Fletcher, has stolen a priceless golden cup that had belonged to my father."

Amelia grinned and replied, "You report is duly noted my lady. Unfortunately, most of our personnel is occupied at the moment, so if you want to hunt him down in person you have my permission to do so."

Aurora and Gabrielle stood up and Aurora said, "Thank you very much Madame Bones, we'll see to it at once." They said goodbye, before turning around and leaving the office. They each pulled their cloaks around them to hide their armour and quickly made their way towards the exit.

Walking towards the elevators, they could smell the smoke coming from the DOM and grinned inwardly. Their 'distraction' would ensure that no one would work on their report about Mundungus, before they had found him and silenced him.

They calmly walked through the atrium and exited the ministry by way of the elevator.

Once they were above ground again, they heard the bells of Big Ben ring 9 times, they had less than half an hour to find Mundungus, before he would report the news to the BBC.

They flamed towards the address Saul Croaker had given them and they reappeared before a small row house in a suburb of Manchester.

The house was obviously hidden by magic, as the window frames were rotting and the house seemed to be in an overall miserable shape.

They could sense intruder charms were placed all around the house so there was no way to get in without being detected. Gabrielle said softly, "Charles, Fredrick."

The two elves appeared with a pop and Charles said, "You called mistress?"

Gabrielle nodded and said, "Yes Charles, Fredrick. In this house is a man who has information that could possibly lead to the deaths of thousands of people. So it is crucial we catch him before he releases that information. There are intruder charms around the house so we can't get in, but you can. I would like to ask you to go in and keep him there until Aurora and I can get to him." Charles and Fredrick both nodded and vanished with a second pop.

There came a lot of noise from inside the house and they could hear Fredrick yell, "We have him mistresses."

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at each other and Aurora said, "It is so stupid of the magical population to forget what other magical beings can do."

They ran towards the house and Aurora kicked the door in, causing the intruder charm to go off and an alarm to start ringing. "We is upstairs," they could hear Charles yell and the sound of a scuffle could be heard. Apparently Mundungus was still trying to escape.

They hurried up the stairs and saw the three combatants were rolling around on the landing. Fredrick had taken Mundungus' wand and the badly smelling excuse of a wizard was trying to get it back. He was being hampered in his efforts by Charles, who was hanging on his neck and trying to choke him.

Aurora hurried to the clutch of struggling bodies and delivered a brutal right hook to Mundungus' head, knocking him out cold. Gabrielle accepted the wand, which Fredrick offered to her and put it in her belt.

Aurora had grasped Mundungus by his filthy red hair and was dragging him down the stairs. Charles had already run downstairs and was shoving a large kitchen chair to the middle of the room.

Aurora forcibly put Mundungus in the chair and Charles helped her to bind his hands and feet to the chair with a piece of rope she pulled from one of the bottomless pouches on her belt.

When he had been secured and Gabrielle and Fredrick had joined them, after searching the first floor for anything of importance, Charles snapped his fingers and a bucket of water appeared.

Aurora caught the bucket out of the air and thanked Charles. Telling him and Fredrick to return home and prepare for the arrival of Harry and the girls. When the elves were gone, she threw the ice-cold water at Mundungus, who awoke with a gasp and looked wildly around him with his bloodshot eyes.

"'Oe the bloody 'ell are yeh." When he had shaken the water out of his eyes and saw the faces of Aurora and Gabrielle he paled. Aurora and Gabrielle had identical dark looks on their faces and while Gabrielle sat down opposite him, Aurora drew one of her knives and started to play with it.

"So tell me, Dung," began Gabrielle on a threateningly calm tone, "where exactly did you get the info that our son is her Majesty's grandnephew?" Mundungus was too busy watching the knife Aurora was playing with to notice Gabrielle's words until Aurora threw it between his legs, only a fraction of an inch away from his groin.

"My wife asked you a question, you piece of filth." The venom in Aurora's voice was clear and when she drew a second knife from behind her back, he swallowed and turned towards Gabrielle, who repeated the question.

"I... I... I don't kn... know wha... wha, yeh'r talking 'bout."

Aurora growled softly and Gabrielle said, "Unless you have been living under a tree, I'm sure you know what happened to Lucy Malfoy."

It wasn't a question but he nodded nonetheless. "Good. Now unless you want to turn out like him, I suggest you start talking."

Mundungus swallowed and stammered. "Them sai'd the'll murdur me if I rattet em out."

Aurora threw the second knife between his legs, this one even closer than the first. "And what do you think I'll do, if you don't. I'm kind of hoping you don't though, as I have some idea's I wasn't able to use on Malfoy as we needed him alive."

Drawing one of the daggers from her boot, Aurora got a little closer and whispered in his ear, "I really like to test out a theory from one of my favourite comic book villains called The Joker. He said that if you cut open the corners of someone's mouth, that person would be able to give you a literal, ear to ear smile."

When he heard this Mundungus panicked and yelled, "A'right a'right, I'll tel yeh. It was Rookwood, Augustus Rookwood from the DOM. E's a spy for yeh-now-wo."

Gabrielle gave him a soft smile and said, "Thank you. That wasn't so hard now was it, and to make sure he doesn't get a chance to kill you..."

Before she finished speaking, Aurora threw her dagger straight into his throat, causing Mundungus to bleed out in seconds. Retrieving her knives from between his legs, she put them behind her back and drew the dagger from his throat.

Cleaning the dagger on Mundungus' filthy coat, she placed it back in her boot before throwing a small red fireball at him. While his body burned to ashes, Gabrielle threw his wand at his burning remains before she and Aurora calmly left the room, not at all feeling guilty about his death. If someone threatened their family, they would pay the price no matter who they were.

They flamed back toward the ministry and appeared just outside the door the DOM. They quickly pushed an identical button on their belts, activating the built-in disillusionment charm, and vanished from sight.

Opening the door, they carefully made their way into the DOM and arrived in the familiar circular room with the twelve doors. Sighing they started trying doors until they found the one they were looking for.

The seventh door opened into a large room, filled with many shelves with hundreds upon hundreds of thick books. The Family Records room. They snuck into the room and closed the door behind them.

There were only three people in the large room, two women were working behind a desk and one man, who was reading in a book between one of the shelves. Seeing as there was only one man, they snuck up to him and when they could read the title of the book he held, they knew he was their guy. ' _The ancient and Noble family of Pendragon'._

Standing behind the man, Aurora pinched the nerve in his neck that caused someone to faint and caught him, while Gabrielle caught the book. While Gabrielle placed the book back on the shelf, Aurora dragged the unconscious body of the man out of the view of the two female workers in the room.

Gabrielle and Aurora both took hold of the man and they flamed away.

They reappeared in their usual spot, outside the doors to Lord Ragnok's office at Gringotts. Knocking on the door, Aurora dragged the still unconscious man behind her. When Ragnok told them to enter, Gabrielle opened the door and Aurora dragged him into the office.

"Well, well, who have we here," said Ragnok on a mock questioning tone. "are you planning on making another addition to the Legion's war chest."

Gabrielle grinned and said, "Yes we are. This is Augustus Rookwood, employee of the DOM and spy for Voldemort."

Ragnok gave them a feral smile and opening a drawer on his desk, he removed a pair of magic repressing handcuffs and threw them to Aurora, who put them on Rookwood.

Ragnok took up the small golden bell on his desk and summoned his goblin aid. When the goblin opened the door Ragnok said, "Please bring me an overview of Mister Rookwood's accounts and possessions." The goblin bowed and left.

Slapping Rookwood hard in his face, Aurora woke him up and he looked bewildered around him. "Where am I, who are you. How dare you to kidnap me, don't you know who I am."

"I know exactly who you are, Augustus Rookwood. You are a spy for Voldemort and gave crucial information to Mundungus Fletcher and told him to make it public. We already killed him and now it is your turn."

Rookwood paled and fell to his knees, "No please don't kill me. I'll give you anything you want."

"Hmm anything you say," Aurora mused with a knowing look at Ragnok and Gabrielle.

"Very well. Since you were involved in a complot that would endanger my son and potentially mean the death of the Queen, you are guilty of high treason. This is punishable by death, but since I'm feeling merciful, I'll let you live and invoke the Right of Conquest."

Rookwood paled and fell down on his hands and knees, torn between the joy of being allowed to live and anger at losing everything he owned. While he was wallowing in self pity, the goblin aid returned with a parchment scroll.

Handing the scroll to Ragnok, the goblin left again and closed the door behind him, while Ragnok opened the scroll.

"Hmm," he muttered softly while reading the scroll, "it would seem that Mister Rookwood had some stakes in varying businesses, including Borgin and Burkes, Nimbus and the Daily Prophet. If I add this to the rest of your shares, you now own 56% of Nimbus and 48% of the Daily Prophet. If you want, I could try to obtain the rest of the Daily Prophet shares so you'll become the full owner. It could never hurt to have your own newspaper."

Aurora and Gabrielle thought about it for a moment and Gabrielle asked, "What would that cost us?"

Ragnok grinned and said, "It would not hurt your coffers at all. Mister Rookwood here has just graciously donated nearly 25 million Galleons to your vault. The Daily Prophet shares are currently going for about 18 Galleons per share, and your 48% consists of 648,000 shares. So the remaining 702,000 shares should be obtainable for about 13 million Galleons."

Gabrielle looked at Aurora and said, "Well it would be nice to have our own newspaper."

Aurora nodded and replied, "You're right love. It would be nice." Turning to Ragnok she added, "Do it, but do it quietly. Don't tell them who is buying the shares."

Ragnok nodded and said, "I'll make sure it stays quiet." He looked towards the sobbing Rookwood on the floor of his office and said, "And what is to be done with this piece of filth?"

"Don't worry, we'll take him with us. He'll serve as an example." Aurora's words caused

Rookwood to look up and stammer, "But you said you wouldn't kill me."

Aurora gave him a dark look and replied, " _I_ won't kill you. _She_ will."

When Aurora finished speaking, Gabrielle grabbed Rookwood's head and twisting it around she broke his neck. The corpse slumped to the floor and Gabrielle removed the now useless handcuffs and handed them back to Ragnok.

Aurora kneeled besides Rookwood's dead body and started to remove his robe. When it was of she threw it in the fireplace and the flames consumed it eagerly. She continued to undress him and burn his clothes until the only piece he wore were his underpants.

Taking one of her daggers from her boot, Aurora placed it on his chest and carved a word in his flesh. When she was done it said, ' _TRAITOR',_ above an arrow pointing at the dark mark on his left underarm.

Ragnok grinned and said, "You're really getting good at this carving business Aurora, maybe you could give my leatherworkers a few pointers sometimes. Those idiots managed to ruin a very valuable piece of dragon hide."

Aurora grinned and answered, "I'll see what I can do. But for now we need to be off, as we have to drop him off at the ministry, before we change to pick up the kids."

Ragnok inclined his head and said, "Please tell them to be here at eight o'clock, we begin early." Aurora nodded and after they donned their masks she and Gabrielle each took an arm of the corpse and flamed away.

They reappeared in the middle of the atrium and threw the corpse into the crowd. "LEARN FROM HIS EXAMPLE," Aurora yelled through the deathly quiet atrium before she and Gabrielle flamed away again. Back to Potter Manor.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 3

As soon as Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny left the train, they were spotted by Aurora and Gabrielle and they slowly made their way towards were the adults were standing. Despite that they had only said goodbye a few hours ago, each of the kids received a hug from the adults.

Aurora and Gabrielle led the quartet off of the platform, back to the muggle part of the station. They made their way towards the main entrance, where they were awaited by one of Elizabeth's cars.

The black limousine quickly made its way to Buckingham palace and reached the gates without incident. When they arrived in the subterranean garage, the agents on watch led them to the sitting room, where they left them to return to their posts.

When Elizabeth saw them enter, she stood up and opened her arms. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny, each gave her a hug before they sat down on the couch. When Elizabeth looked at Aurora and Gabrielle, she recognised their looks, 'we need to talk and soon'.

When everyone was seated, Elizabeth turned towards the kids and said, "So how was your first year at Hogwarts?"

"It was great," said Ginny.

"I learned so much," said Hermione.

"It was wonderful to have my three best friends around me so much," said Fleur.

"Mom killed a teacher during breakfast in the great hall," said Harry.

At Harry's words, Elizabeth looked at Aurora and Gabrielle. With her eyebrows raised she asked, "I thought you would handle this quietly?"

Aurora and Gabrielle raised their hands in protest and Gabrielle said, "In our defence, he had Voldemort growing out of the back of his head."

Elizabeth sighed and replied, "Even if he did, did you really have to do it at breakfast?"

Now it was Aurora who answered and she said, "Hey, if we didn't do it with witnesses, no one would have believed us if we told them why I killed him."

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes and muttered, "It's always the same with you two. Subtlety is not your strongest skill." Harry and the girls grinned softly when they heard this and Aurora and Gabrielle turned a little red.

"It's not our fault dad never taught us," said Aurora a little defensively. "We were raised during the age of chivalry and honour. We had to emigrate to Japan for 10 years to learn sneaking and secrecy from one of their ninja-clans."

Elizabeth just shook her head and turned to the quartet, now with a serious look on her face. "I was very disappointed to hear what you did to those Slytherins a few weeks ago. The skills you are learning are meant to be used on the battle field, not in school corridors."

Harry and the girls looked a little downcast and Harry muttered, "We're very sorry and we have already been punished. We are spending the next week at Gringotts; Lord Ragnok had some jobs for us."

Elizabeth nodded and replied, "I know. Your mothers have already told me about it and I completely agree with it. However, if Lord Ragnok gives me a positive report about your behaviour, I'll send Alastor over to Potter manor to teach you the basics of magical duelling later this summer."

The quartet looked up in surprise after this and Harry hugged his aunt tightly. "Thank you so much aunt Lizzy that is so cool." Alastor had a fearsome duelling reputation, second only to Professor Flitwick, who had beaten him during the World Duelling Championship of 1965.

"Now why don't you four go pay a visit to Sirius at HQ, I need to talk with Aurora and Gabrielle." The four kids stood up and quickly left, Elizabeth's tone was not one that could be refused.

As soon as the kids closed the doors behind them, Elizabeth turned serious and said to Aurora and Gabrielle, "Okay what did you need to talk about?"

Aurora and Gabrielle likewise turned very serious and Gabrielle replied, "This morning you ordered us to execute Order 66, which we have done successfully."

Elizabeth sighed and said, "Show me." Gabrielle stood up and sat down next to Elizabeth. Placing her hands carefully at either side of the queen's head, she poured a flood of memories into her head, everything she had learned from Anderson.

When Gabrielle removed her hands, Elizabeth sunk back in the couch and closed her eyes. For over fifteen minutes she sat silently with her eyes closed, while she viewed everything Gabrielle had given her.

When she opened her eyes, she sighed, "It would appear our enemy is far more numerous than we had feared."

Gabrielle nodded and replied, "We fear that Voldemort has spent the years since his fall with recruiting heavily all around the world."

Aurora nodded and added, "Vlad is still bound by the treaty, but we know for a fact that Voldy is working on creating an alliance with the other vampire clans.

The werewolf packs of the mainland have also pledged their support to him. The werewolves of Britain are still united under Fenrir Greyback and have already fought for him during the first war."

Gabrielle took over again and said, "The troll population has multiplied over the past few years and their tribes have grown so large that they are nearly unable to feed themselves. Unfortunately we cannot cull their numbers, as they are not bothering anyone. We believe that the Death Eaters are feeding them to keep them satisfied until they are ready for war.

The giants have learned their lesson during the last war and are keeping their heads low at the preserves, but their numbers have been increasing to almost twice the number they had after our genocide. If Voldemort comes to them with a tempting offer they will flock to his side and pose a serious threat to our safety again."

Elizabeth nodded softly and said, "You need to get Boltrock working on a solution for the problem with the Mammoths as soon as possible. Also we need either more manpower, or some new firepower, as the Death Eaters broke through way to fast, with unacceptable casualties on our side."

Aurora nodded and replied, "I know. The MPACS are only weeks from completion and as soon as they are out of the dry-docks, I'll have them begin with two more. Thanks to the billions I took from the Death Eaters, we're able to fund them and I fear we'll desperately need them."

Elizabeth nodded again and said, "Good, I was about to suggest that. But about the manpower, I think you should talk with Vasily and Thomas."

Aurora nodded and replied, "I know. They have the largest numbers at their disposal and maybe they can help us out with that. I'll take the kids to meet them during the summer."

"Good," replied Elizabeth, "we need to deal with this as soon as possible if we are to be fully prepared when Voldemort returns. You have been working hard, but we need more." Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in acceptance and they stood up to take their leave.

Elizabeth accompanied them to the MSS HQ where they found Harry and the girls getting a full round of introductions from Sirius. When they saw the three women enter the HQ, the kids ran towards them and skidded to a halt before them.

"Are we going home," asked Harry when they were standing before his mothers and aunt.

Aurora smiled and nodded her head, "Yes Harry. The four of you need to be at Gringotts at eight o'clock tomorrow morning so it's an early night for you tonight."

The four swallowed at the same time and a little downcast they said, as one, "Yes mom." Elizabeth said goodbye to the kids and took her leave to discuss some matters with commander McAndrews.

They said goodbye to Sirius and the other agents before they made their way towards the travel room to return home to Potter manor.

The next morning the quartet were awoken at seven, when Daisy came up to tell them breakfast was ready. When they refused to get up, she snapped her fingers and a bucket of water appeared above each of their heads.

"Mistress Aurora has told me to wake you by any means necessary." She snapped her fingers again and the buckets tipped, dropping their contents on the heads of the four kids.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny jumped up, cursing loudly at Daisy, who just said, "Breakfast, 10 minutes, don't be late," before she popped away.

Still cursing softly, Hermione took her wand from the bedside table and waved it over her head, drying the water, before doing the same for the others. Making their way towards the wardrobe, they each dressed in old clothes, as they didn't know what Ragnok had in store for them, before making their way downstairs for breakfast.

When they got to the kitchen they found Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and the elves waiting for them. Hermione suppressed a yawn and asked to her father, "Where's mom?"

While the kids sat down, Dan replied, "Still in bed. I'm only awake to see you off and am going back to bed when you're gone." Each of the kids sent a jealous stare at Dan before they attacked their breakfast, which the elves had placed before them on the table.

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at their mood and Gabrielle said, "Cheer up, there are far worse things than waking up a little early. Besides, you have yourselves to thank for this." The only response she got was some grumbling by the kids as they all had their mouths full of scrambled egg and toast.

When breakfast had been devoured, it was 07:45 and time to leave for Gringotts. After some very deep sighs, the quartet stood up and followed Aurora and Gabrielle to the fireplace in the travel room. Dan wished them good luck with a devilish grin and yawned, "Good luck you guys, I'm going back to bed."

Each of the kids threw a dark look at Dan, before he left the group and entered one of the elevators.

When the group arrived at Gringotts, they were awaited by Lord Ragnok and a second unknown goblin, who wore a bloodied apron and had several large knifes in his belt.

The group made a polite bow to Lord Ragnok, who returned the gesture to Aurora and Gabrielle, before Ragnok introduced the unknown goblin. "Harry, girls, this is Sharpknife, he will be overseeing your activities at Gringotts this week."

Sharpknife gave them a toothy grin. The quartet warily eyed his bloodied apron and assortment of knifes. When Sharpknife extended his hand, Harry and the girls hesitantly shook it.

Gabrielle cleared her throat and when she had the attention of the quartet, she said, "Aurora and I expect you four to behave during your stay here. We'll come back and get you tonight at 19:00."

They gave each of the four a hug and walked away towards the exit and the sunny street of Diagon Alley. Ragnok grinned at the fearful looks of Harry and the girls, before he turned to Sharpknife. "You know what they are supposed to do Sharpknife, take good care of them."

Ragnok nodded to the quartet, before he too took his leave and returned to his office, humming a cheery, unfamiliar tune under his breath. He remembered well his time in the dragon pens. It was some of his fondest, yet also some of his worst memories, when he had to learn what the quartet was about to learn.

Sharpknife led the quartet towards one of the doors in the large marble hall and they entered a large, well lit tunnel which led slightly downwards and to the left. They walked for a few minutes, before they reached a large, noisy cavern.

There were dozens of goblins milling about in the cavern, none of which spared a glance at the four human children who had just entered the cavern."

When the kids heard Sharpknife's voice, they turned towards the goblin and he continued his tale. "On strategic places in the deep reaches of Gringotts are spread 14 dragons. Every other day a full grown dragon devours, depending on race, gender and size, between 300 and 400 pounds of meat, for a total of 5000 pounds of meat, or 14 fully grown pigs."

When he said the last part, he pointed towards a large pen on the far side of the cavern, which housed around 70 large pigs. The reason they had not noticed them before was the obvious noise charm over the pen, as not a single sound was heard from the pigs.

"Your job will be to bring one pig to each of the dragons, and to clean out their respective pens while the dragons are eating. You will do 7 dragons each day, so in six days, you get to clean out a lot of dragon pens. Sound fun, doesn't it?"

The dark grin of the goblin did not at all lessen their slightly green faces and they seemed to shudder at the thought of how much dragon dung they would be shovelling.

Sharpknife led them towards the pig pen and showed them a cart, which they could pull behind them and several shovels. "Lord Ragnok does not want any pigs running around in the tunnels nor does he want a mess, so the pigs are slaughtered and cut up here. I'll show you how to properly feed and clean the pen of one dragon and then it's up to you."

He yelled an order to three goblins near the pen, who jumped into the pen and singled out one of the pigs. They snuck a rope around the pigs neck and dragged him to a separate, walled-off pen out of view from the main pen.

Two of the goblins restrained the pig while the third drew a familiar handgun and shot the pig through the head, killing it instantly. The pig slumped to the ground and the goblins put large meat hooks through its legs, before pulling a lever and raising the carcass from the ground.

Sharpknife drew one of his knifes and quickly set to work. In less than 10 minutes, he and his three helpers had cut open the carcass, removed all the organs and chopped the pig in pieces with large axes.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny looked with a macabre sort of interest as the goblins were working. Despite the lack of industrial machines, they were sure that no muggle slaughter house could do what the goblins just did in the same span of time.

When the pig had been cut to pieces, the goblins loaded it on the cart and Sharpknife told the quartet to push the cart. Leading them to one of the tunnels, he showed them a large elevator.

"Each dragon pen has a number, just push the button that shows the number of the dragon pen you need to go to and it'll take you there." He pushed the button labelled 1 and the doors closed behind them.

When they opened again, they found themselves in a short rough corridor, which led towards a softly illuminated cavern. When they entered the cavern they saw ten large stone vault doors.

Nestled in a large nest made of withered wood and rocks lay a large, dull-black dragon. It was an ancient Hebridean Black and when the dragon sensed their approach, he rose to his full height and roared at them.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny stood frozen to their spot. Both Aurora and Gabrielle were more than twice its size when in dragon form, but they had never turned on them. Sharpknife let out a loud laugh, as the dragon brought his right front paw to his mouth and coughed in a rather absurd sounding growl.

" _Would you four be so kind as to clean out my nest, it is starting to get rather smelly in here?"_ The four kids stared wide-eyed at the dragon while he stood up and walked out of his nest. He walked towards the cart and started to devour the pieces of pork that lay on it.

When the quartet didn't move, Sharpknife gave them each a kick to their shin, and they shook their heads before turning towards the goblin. "He talked," they said as one and this time Sharpknife did look surprised.

"So the four of you can talk to dragons, Lord Ragnok did not inform me of this. However this will greatly help you in your dealings with the dragons, as they can just tell you what you have to do."

After blinking several times, Harry took up the now empty cart and pulled it towards the nest, while the girls each picked up a shovel. Sharpknife took a pile of rough gunny sacks, and handed them to Harry, "Put the dung in these bags. We sell it as fertilizer to greenhouses all over Britain, including those at Hogwarts."

Harry and the girls did indeed recognise the bags as the ones Professor Sprout had in the greenhouse at school. Now they knew what they had been spreading over the plant beds all year.

Harry held the sacks open while the girls filled them with the dry, loose structured dragon dung. When the bags were full, Sharpknife showed them how to tie them closed and the dragon generously helped them by picking them up and placing them on the cart.

When they were done, the dragon retook his place in the nest and said, " _Thank you. This is so much more comfortable."_ The kids were still a little unsure and made a quick bow to the dragon before following Sharpclaw and pushing the cart back to the elevator.

When they arrived back at the large cavern from which they had started, Sharpknife led them towards a different side of the cavern. He showed them a large pile of the same dung filled bags and told them to just pile the bags with the others.

When the cart was empty, he showed them were the empty bags were kept and led them back to the pig pen. 15 minutes later, Harry and the girls were on their way to the next dragon pen, this time alone.

They arrived at a smaller cavern than the one that housed the Hebridean Black. This cavern housed a Common Welsh Green, which formed the majority of the dragons at Gringotts. Sharpknife told them that Gringotts had 9 Common Welsh Greens, 4 Swedish Short-Snouts, and only one Hebridean Black who guarded the highest level security vaults.

They spent around one hour in each of the pens and were only allowed one break, between 12:30 and 13:30, during which a grinning Griphook brought them a plate with sandwiches and pumpkin juice.

Most of the dragons had been well-mannered and readily cooperated while they cleaned their nests, though one of the Short-Snouts had a cold. It kept sneezing flames at random, causing the quartet to be extremely wary for any spontaneous fire bursts.

They managed to leave the Short-Snout's pen with no burns, but the cart did get hit and it was creaking a bit while they headed back to the main cavern. Just as they were passing the pig pen, the half burned axle of the cart broke. Sacks of dragon dung fell from the cart and spread over the floor.

Sharpknife came running and shouted, "What happened? How did you manage to break a perfectly fine cart?"

The girls went red and Harry said, "It wasn't our fault sir, the Short Snout in pen 5 has a cold. He accidently hit the cart with a fire blast when he had to sneeze and it burned the axle."

Sharpknife grumbled softly and after a short order in gobbledegook, two goblins brought out a second cart which they placed next to the broken one. Harry, the girls and several goblins loaded the sacks on the new cart and the broken one was taken away to be repaired.

When they returned from pen 7, it was 18:45 and Sharpknife led them back towards the great marble hall, where Aurora, Gabrielle and Lord Ragnok were already waiting for them. "Did you have fun," asked Gabrielle with a knowing grin when she and the other two saw the kids approaching behind Sharpknife.

"Not really but we did learn a lot though," replied Fleur for the group.

The others nodded and Hermione added, "It was very interesting to see how the goblins butcher a pig. And apparently dragons can get a cold just as well as humans can."

Sharpknife grinned at Lord Ragnok and said, "Number 5 had to sneeze and he accidently burned the axle of a cart. I'm having it repaired as we speak." Ragnok nodded understandingly and thanked Sharpknife, who went back to the cavern after adding, "I'll see you four at the cavern tomorrow morning at 08:00."

The kids answered affirmatively and they joined Aurora and Gabrielle when they headed to Ragnok's office to go back to Potter manor.

When they arrived back at the manor they were awaited by a grinning Dan who, barely containing his mirth, asked, "How many pounds of dung did you have to shovel before the goblins let you go?"

The quartet threw him a dark look and Hermione said snappily, "Shut up dad, or we'll take you with us tomorrow." Dan was fully aware that she was bluffing but he acted worried and quickly made his way towards the kitchen for dinner.

When the rest joined him and Emma in the kitchen, the elves had already served dinner and they immediately attacked the food, they were starving.

In the meantime Aurora and Gabrielle had not been idle. They were working with the information they had gained during their little bit of time travel.

After they had dropped off Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny for their first day of punishment, Aurora and Gabrielle had taken the Floo to Buckingham Palace. They had picked up Elizabeth and brought her with them to Avalon to discuss their plans with Boltrock and Anderson.

When they had made their way to Anderson's office, they found him and Boltrock already waiting for them along with two of Boltrock's engineers and four Legion officers.

When everyone had sat down, Anderson snapped his fingers and activated the privacy wards around his office, which were goblin-made like all the wards on and around the island.

Aurora called for attention and the others were immediately quiet. "Yesterday afternoon an incident took place in the muggle world which forced Gabrielle and me to execute Order 66." There were a few gasps as they were amongst the only ones who knew what it meant.

"We have successfully neutralised the threat, while the Legion resisted a full scale assault on Buckingham Palace."

Gabrielle took over and looking at Anderson she said, "Anderson, please get your pensieve, so I can show all of you what we learned."

Anderson complied at once and brought the requested item from one of the drawers behind his desk. Gabrielle placed her right index finger in the pensieve and focused her thoughts on everything she had learned from Anderson during and after the attack.

When she was done, each of the present put their right index finger in the pensieve and was sucked into the memory. They landed besides Anderson's command post on the roof of the palace and saw the entire battle unfold before them. No one said a word as they witnessed the slaughter and bloodshed around them.

It took them almost an hour to view everything and when they were done they returned to the office of Anderson.

"So," began Aurora, "I assume you all realise the same thing, despite our extensive preparations, we are still vastly outnumbered by our enemy." The others all nodded in agreement and Aurora continued.

"Using the funds I have taken from the Death Eaters, I'm commissioning the building of two more MPACS, as soon as the current two leave dry-dock. Seeing as we now know how to build them, I expect them to be ready within 20 months after building begins. Furthermore we need to find a solution to the mobility problem with the Mammoths. I propose using smaller maze tracks or several tracks behind each other to negate that problem, before full scale production starts."

Boltrock nodded and said, "I'll get right on it. I'll take your suggestions into consideration and try which solution is the best."

Aurora nodded to Boltrock and said, "Good thank you, please take care of it as soon as possible."

Turning back to the others she continued, "I'll be paying a visit to Vasily and Thomas this summer, to ask them if they can help out with additional manpower. Maybe they can supply some regiments in support roles or additional recruits, I'm not yet sure which way we'll be handling it."

The others nodded in agreement and Aurora turned towards one of the officers, "Admiral Woolsey, how goes the training of your crews? Will they be ready when the MPACS are launched?"

Said officer, a 56 year old former U.S. navy admiral stood up, saluted, and answered on a stern military tone. He had been recruited 8 years ago to lead the training of the Legion naval forces but was still refusing to drop his strict military demeanour.

"Training goes according to plan Ma'am, the crews have already completed their training aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz and the Legion Marines are nearing the end of their training. They'll all be ready when the MPACS are launched."

Aurora nodded in acceptance and replied, "That is good to hear Admiral. Please inform me when they are done with their training." Admiral Woolsey saluted her and sat back down in his chair.

They spoke for several hours, discussing everything they had witnessed in the memory and spoke extensively about tactics and equipment performance. Boltrock reported that he had made a breakthrough with his magical signature scanner.

"Thanks to the efforts of Arthur Weasley, I've been able to create a prototype of the Magical Radiation Scanner or MRS. They're ready for testing as soon as we have a willing test-subject."

Gabrielle smiled approvingly and said, "We have a willing test-subject waiting for our word. Please move everything you need to the London facility, we will test it there." Boltrock inclined his head in agreement and the discussion turned to whether or not it would be necessary to include jet fighters in the Legion arsenal.

Admiral Woolsey was a strong supporter of the idea as he had worked extensively with them during the Vietnam war. He promoted their striking capability and speed, compared to the Apache helicopters in use by the Legion.

Aurora and Gabrielle were strong opponents of the use of jet fighters. They had fought on the Queen's behalf during the Vietnam War and witnessed first-hand the destruction to innocent lives, caused by the large scale jet fighter airstrikes.

"The new generation of jet fighters are capable of precision bombardment so the risk of civilian casualties is non-existent."

"That is completely irrelevant as we work with close air support that is required to stay in the area and offer support immediately when needed."

Each of Woolsey's arguments was mercilessly put down by Aurora and Gabrielle, who were staunch supporters of helicopter warfare. The discussion between the three went on for 10 minutes before Air Marshal Zhukovo raised his voice and said loudly, "IF I MAY."

Woolsey and Gabrielle fell silent and Elizabeth motioned for Zhukovo to continue. "I might have a solution that will serve as a compromise. I have been keeping track of several experimental aircraft all over the world. One of them shows promise to be very useful in our line of work. It is being developed on order of the U.S. Air Force and called the V-22 Osprey. It is quite basically a propeller fighter but with the hovering capabilities of a helicopter."

Aurora, Gabrielle and Woolsey each showed sincere interest and it was decided that during Aurora and Gabrielle's visit to Thomas, they would also take a look at this new air craft.

When the discussions had died down they all went their separate ways and Aurora and Gabrielle took Elizabeth back to Buckingham palace, before picking up the kids at Gringotts.

The next week followed much the same schedule for the inhabitants of Potter manor. Each morning the quartet reported to Sharpknife at 08:00 while Aurora and Gabrielle went to Avalon to work out the details of their various plans of operations.

Each evening at 19:00 Aurora and Gabrielle picked the quartet up and brought them back to Potter manor where they went to bed early. The work was heavy and they were tired after hours of shovelling dragon dung.

During their last day at Gringotts, Sharpknife took them apart and gave them some interesting information. "Did you four know that the anatomy of a pig is very similar to that of a human?" The four shook their heads at this as they never would have thought about that.

"It is true. Goblin warriors often train on pigs to learn where to strike for either, non-fatal injuries, crippling injuries or killing injuries. If you want I can show you the same." The quartet nodded enthusiastically and Sharpknife's helpers caught four pigs for them to train on.

Once the four carcasses had been cleaned and hung on hooks the lesson began. Sharpknife showed them the location of the organs and where they were supposed to hit them. He would call out words like, kill, cripple, bleed out, pain and they would have to hit the corresponding area on the carcass of the pig.

The lesson continued on till the carcasses had been cut to shreds and Sharpknife told them to load the pieces on a cart and go feed the dragons, someone else would clean the pens that day.

They were allowed to leave at noon and when Sharpknife brought them back to the marble hall, they found Aurora, Gabrielle and Ragnok waiting for them. Aurora grinned at the blood spattered clothes of the kids and said, "How was butchers class, it's interesting isn't it, that the human body is very similar to that of a pig?"

They looked a little confused as they didn't know how they had known about that. Gabrielle smiled at them and said, "We asked Sharpknife to teach you four the beginnings of knife-fighting. That starts with the human's, or in this case a pig's, anatomy."

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny grinned a little sheepishly and Hermione said, "Don't get me wrong, it was very interesting to learn all that, but I don't think it is normal for a bunch of twelve year olds to learn the proper way to kill a human being with a knife."

Aurora and Gabrielle raised their eyebrows at this and Sharpknife led out a loud laughter while Ragnok replied to Hermione's statement. "You four are not normal Hermione, besides, every goblin learns what you just learned when he or she is ten, so you're even a little late by goblin standards."

The quartet looked aghast at this and Aurora said softly, "Gabrielle and I killed our first human when we were 9 years old. It was messy and clumsy and very unpleasant. If you four are in a position when you have no choice but to take a life, we want you to know how to do so properly, without making a mess and causing unnecessary suffering."

"How... how do you mean, when you were 9 years old. How did that happen?" Harry's question was shakily and the girls looked a little pale at the thought of having to kill a human being, the pigs were all right but a human was a step too far. For now.

Gabrielle put her hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "What you four need to realise Harry, is that Aurora and I were raised in world that had completely different rules than we have now. Slavery was widely accepted back then and one day we accompanied Merlin to the house of a powerful muggle earl. That man was cruel and harsh to the people who served him and especially to those he owned.

We weren't familiar with the practice of slavery as Merlin didn't have any and when we saw a girl of our own age, we wanted to play with her. Unfortunately she was one of the slaves of that earl.

In a pause in their meeting, the earl came back out and saw the three of us playing. The earl was enraged when he saw that one of his slave-girls was playing with us, instead of working for him. So he took a whip from his belt and started to hit the girl."

Aurora took over the tale and said, "When the first blow hit, it ripped open the girls dress and tore her back apart. The girl fell down in pain and Gabrielle and I stepped forward to protect our new friend. The next lash hit Gabrielle on her left arm. When I saw the whip hit her I lost it. I stormed at the earl who was attempting to lash again, and pulling one of his daggers from his belt, I stabbed him in the gut. Gabrielle was next to me in a second and drawing the other dagger and joined me in stabbing the earl.

Our lack of strength back then was the cause of his suffering. We stabbed him I don't know how many times before he died, but his corpse was unrecognisable afterwards. The noise and the screaming had of course drawn a crowd and when the earl's guards saw us, stabbing into an unrecognisable body, they dragged us away and some of them went to collect their master and my father.

When my father came to the small courtyard, he immediately realised what happened and who the man was that we had killed. Thinking quickly he saw the cut on Gabrielle's arm and asked her who had hit her. We didn't know any better back then so Gabrielle said that it had been the earl."

Aurora paused and Gabrielle took over again. "Merlin proclaimed that, according to the law, any who harmed a member of one of the founding families, would be put to death. And as Merlin had kind of adopted me I was considered a member of the Emrys family. So all we had done was in accordance with the law.

The castle of the earl was destroyed and all slaves were given their freedom, but we didn't really care as the girl who we had defended, was disgusted with what we had done and refused to see us again."

The quartet was silent as they thought about what they had just heard until Gabrielle spoke again. "But enough of that for now. We hope that it will be a long time before you ever have to kill someone."

Aurora nodded in agreement and added, "I hope you four have learned your lesson during your time here as tomorrow morning we are dropping you of at Black manor. Sirius and Remus have some activities planned for you. Hopefully Ilona will not give birth during the next week as she is scheduled to deliver in two weeks."

The quartet immediately cheered up at that and a familiar slightly maniacal grin spread over their faces. It was almost time for their Marauder boot camp.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 4

When Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny returned to their room at the manor, they found four large empty backpacks waiting for them. They were muggle army backpacks painted in a camouflage pattern.

Not really understanding what they were for, they took them downstairs and showed them to Aurora and Gabrielle. To their surprise they found three more people in the kitchen, Sirius, Remus and Dora.

Sirius grinned at the quartet and said, "Ah, I see you have found Ilona's contribution to our little boot camp extraordinaire." Remus and Dora smiled as well when they saw the confused looks of the kids.

Hermione was the first to recover and said, "But... but we thought we were spending the week at Black Manor."

The adults all burst out laughing and Remus grinned, "Where is the fun in that? We are spending the week hiking in the highlands."

Dora nodded and said, "I have not been fully informed about what we are going to do, as Mister and Mister Pranky over here said it was my initiation as well. However I do know that we girls are not allowed to take anything other than the bare necessities. If it doesn't fit in the backpack, you're not allowed to take it."

Sirius and Remus nodded and Sirius added to this, "You will be required to take with you, clothes for 7 days and 6 nights, a sleeping bag and pillow, toothbrush and paste, plate, cup and cutlery, pocketknife and 1 tent divided over the four of you."

Harry and the girls swallowed at the amount of things they were require to stuff into the backpacks. Now they realised why they were so big. "But," began Ginny, "I don't have a pocketknife, tent, or a sleeping bag."

The other three nodded their heads and Aurora grinned while Gabrielle said, "You do now."

At the quartets confused looks Aurora added, "We have decided to give you guys an early birthday present this year and already bought everything you're going to need."

When she finished speaking, Charles and Fredrick popped into to the kitchen. Fredrick was carrying one very large wrapped package and Charles was carrying a large pile of smaller ones.

They staggered towards the kitchen table and Aurora and Gabrielle quickly took the packages from them. When they had put them on the table, Harry and the girls immediately started unwrapping.

The big package contained a 4-person tent and the other packages contained, sleeping bags, RVS plates, cups and cutlery, combat boots and hiking clothes.

Aurora and Gabrielle helped them put everything in the backpacks. They divided the parts of the tent over the backpacks and the only things they would have to add later were their personal things like toothbrushes, swimwear, towels and underwear.

When the backpacks were closed, Fleur was the one who noticed the things that were missing. "I thought you said we needed pocketknives?" When Sirius nodded Fleur continued, "We don't have those either."

Aurora softly cleared her throat and when they turned to her they saw she and Gabrielle each held an identical wrapped box in each of their hands. "Are those..." before Harry finished his question, Aurora and Gabrielle nodded with a grin and tossed one of the packages to each of the kids.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny tore the wrapping paper from the packages and opened the boxes that were in them. Each box held a custom made version of the Legion combat knife.

The handles were made from dragon bone and they came with a black, dragon hide sheath. The blades of the knives were 8 inches long, goblin forged steel, with a clip-point and a serrated edge. The Mark of the Legion was driven into the steel just under the handle and filled with gold to make it stand out.

"Wow", the kids said in unison, "these are so cool." They each gave Aurora and Gabrielle a hug to thank them, while the other adults where looking with interest towards the knifes.

"May I see one of them?" asked Remus with a curious expression on his face. After Ginny handed him her knife, Remus studied it closely. He made some approving noises before handing it to his girlfriend.

When Dora accepted the knife she too studied the excellent craftsmanship and gasped, "This is Goblin made, it must be worth a fortune."

Gabrielle grinned and answered, "Having several hundred goblins under employment does help to keep the cost down. We just had the weapon smiths adjust four of our standard combat knives."

At this Dora's eyes went wide and she said, "You have goblins under employment? How did you get them to agree to work under a human's leadership?"

Sirius was the one who answered and led out a barking laugh, "They don't work for them, Lord Ragnok has offered them their services for a bargain price, in exchange for services rendered in the past."

Now Dora was completely flabbergasted as she looked at the knowing grins of all the others in the kitchen. Her hair turning red was the only indication that she was getting angry and she asked on a dangerously calm tone, "Would someone please explain to me what the hell you are talking about."

Aurora smiled and replied, "Do you know who Gabrielle and I are Dora?"

Dora looked a little confused about this and said a little hesitantly, "You are a distant relative of Merlin and you and Gabrielle are members of the Shadow Legion."

Aurora nodded and said, "You are correct that we are members of the Legion, but the other part is not entirely correct." Before Dora could open her mouth to ask what she meant, Aurora continued. "I'm not a distant relative of Merlin, I'm Merlin's daughter. Gabrielle and I founded the Legion in 539 A.D. and have been in command of it ever since."

Dora's eyes went wide and she sputtered, "Wha... wha.. wha..." before her eyes went wide and she fell back in her seat to shocked to say anything else.

Remus gently slapped her face to get her to react and when she did she looked at the others and asked, "How are you all so calm under this."

Sirius put a calming hand on her shoulder and said, "We already knew about this Dora. When a senior agent of the MSS is promoted to the top-squad, they are briefed on a number of matters and their identity is part of that briefing."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "Harry and the girls were told last year when certain circumstances forced our hands to act."

Dora shook her head softly and muttered to Remus, "So much for no secrets between us."

Remus grinned apologetically and replied softly, "Sorry Dora but it was not my secret, so I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. What you have just been told is considered _above_ top-secret and only if Aurora and Gabrielle have given you specific permission to do so, can you tell someone else."

Dora looked a little sceptical so Remus said with a glint of humour in his eyes, "Try it."

Dora rolled her eyes and turning to Harry she tried to tell him his mother was Merlin's daughter. But no matter how hard she tried, the words would not leave her mouth. Turning to Aurora she asked, "How is this possible, why can't I tell him?"

Gabrielle was the one who answered and she said, "Merlin himself has cast a spell on our identity, not even we know what kind of spell it was, as he didn't tell us. But ever since that day, only we and those we have given permission can tell others who we are."

Dora nodded in understanding and asked, "But why did you tell me, I'm not a member of the top-squad."

"Let's just say that we are a great judge of character and besides, you won't be able to tell anyone else so there is not really any harm in telling you."

Dora accepted Gabrielle's words with a nod and turning to her boyfriend she said, "Are there anymore secrets you aren't able to tell me?"

Remus nodded his head but Sirius asked with a mischievous grin, "Has he already told you about his, 'furry little problem'?" The others looked on with interest as Sirius asked this but Dora didn't bat an eye when she replied.

"Yes Sirius, he has told me that he is a werewolf. But like I already told him, I don't give a fuck if he isn't the best company for three nights a month. I'm not fun to be around either several days a month."

The women in the kitchen smirked at Dora's reply and Harry said loudly, "That's what you get for meddling with other people's private lives."

Remus was practically glowing when Dora had said that she didn't care about him being a werewolf and he gave her a passionate kiss, which she returned with enthusiasm.

When everyone had settled down again, Sirius cleared his throat and said, "We'll come and get you tomorrow morning at 07:00. Make sure you have eaten before that because we won't have lunch till noon."

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny nodded in acceptance and Aurora said, "Very well. But Sirius, I want one of your mirrors so you can contact us and we can contact you should it be necessary."

Sirius nodded and replied, "I'll drop one off tomorrow morning. Oh and before I forget, Ilona asked if she could move over here with James and Kreacher, while we are gone. She doesn't want to be alone in the manor at this time in her pregnancy with only those two to help her."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle smiled at this and Gabrielle said, "Of course she can stay here, we thought she was staying on Avalon, otherwise we would have invited her earlier."

Aurora nodded in agreement and added, "Is she comfortable using the floo or shall I send a chopper to the manor to pick her up."

Sirius grinned and replied, "You know Ilona, she is a disaster with the floo when she isn't pregnant, and it has only gotten worse now that she is. Kreacher will bring her and James over after we have left."

They all knew this to be true sadly enough, at Christmas last year Rosy had placed a thick woollen rug before the fireplace, because Ilona always ended up flat on the ground one way or another.

Shortly after the last details had been discussed, Sirius, Remus and Dora left for their respective homes to pack their own backpacks.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny brought their backpacks upstairs to put in the remaining items they would need to bring along. When they were trying to stuff the towels into the backpacks they came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to bring more than 2 each. So they resigned themselves to having to use them more than once.

In the last weeks before the holiday it had become clear that the one piece bathing suits of Hermione and Ginny had become too small, as they had followed Fleur's example and were developing quite quickly. So Gabrielle had offered to take them shopping that afternoon, while Aurora had to make some arrangements for the coming week.

Gabrielle and the kids took the floo to the Leaky Cauldron and they headed into the muggle part of London to do their shopping, wizarding swimwear was rather conservative and not at all fashionable.

They entered a large sports-store and the girls ran towards the beachwear section, while Harry and Gabrielle went to look for new swim shorts for Harry, as his had gotten rather tight as well.

When they re-joined the girls they found them trying out various styles of swimwear. Seeing the girls dressed in revealing bikini's made some unfamiliar feelings stir within Harry. The girls didn't notice Harry's uneasiness but Gabrielle did.

"What's wrong sweetie," she asked as she put a hand on Harry shoulder. Harry looked up at his mother with a deep blush on his face and Gabrielle had to hide her surprise at this. Harry saw them all in their swimwear daily so this should not have been such a big deal for him.

"I'm not sure mom," replied Harry, "but I get this weird feeling inside when I see them dressed like this."

Gabrielle chuckled softly and squeezed his shoulder in a reassuring manner, "Don't worry sweetie that's perfectly normal for someone of your age, though it usually takes a little longer for boys to get to this part. What you are feeling right now is the same feeling I get when I look at Aurora. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're feeling a certain lust at seeing them like this. A Pride to be able to call the beauty's you see before you as your own. And a potential anger to anyone who would dare to look at them the same way as you are looking at them."

Harry could do nothing but nod, his mother had described his feelings perfectly. He looked at Hermione, Fleur and Ginny and saw that they each wore an identical string-bikini. 'Red with gold, the Gryffindor colours,' thought Harry, as he saw them parading in front of the large mirror, looking at themselves and the other two girls while they did it.

During the last months it had become quite obvious that the girls were just as interested in each other as they were in Harry. So to prevent any awkward situations they had decided to stop taking their showers together, it was also not fair to Harry as he was not allowed to see them completely naked just jet.

Since their breasts had really started to develop they were changing in different rooms, as Harry was unable to stop staring at them, no matter what they tried. As a result their morning and evening rituals had become quite a bit more time consuming as they were forced to take their turns in the bathroom to change and shower separately.

"What do you think," Fleur asked and Harry and Gabrielle looked up at the girls. They were each standing with their hands behind their backs and facing Harry and Gabrielle. Harry immediately turned bright red as his eyes were immediately drawn towards the girls' chests.

The trio saw Harry's eyes switch from one pair of covered breasts to the next and Fleur and Ginny giggled. Hermione attempted to take on a stern look and said, "Our eyes are not at chest-level Harry."

Harry was to focused to hear her talk, until Gabrielle elbowed him in the side and he looked up. "Ehh, sorry I got distracted did anyone say something."

Hermione's stern expression vanished as she, Fleur and Ginny burst out in a fit of giggling. "Hermione asked if you liked their bikini's Harry." Gabrielle had a little pity on her son and contained her giggling, though only barely.

Harry sighed happily and said, "You three are the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. I don't care if you're wearing burlap, silk or absolutely nothing, you three are just too damn beautiful."

Now it was the girls' turn to blush and Gabrielle said with a cheeky grin, "You know kids, that new sleeping rule of yours might be put a little under pressure if you're not wearing much more than this, maybe I should buy three more tents so you each have your own."

"NO," the quartet's answer sounded through the entire store and Gabrielle burst out laughing.

"Don't worry guys, we would never separate you, I just hope you can have the patience to keep your hands of off each other until you're a few years older." When she said this she looked pointedly at Fleur who was slowly rubbing circles on the bare backs of Hermione and Ginny and quickly withdrew her hands.

With a deep blush Fleur said softly, "Yes mom, I'll try."

Gabrielle smiled and mused to herself, "O Aurora, I clearly remember when you and I made love for the first time, it lasted for hours and the days after it we couldn't keep our hands off of each other for more than half an hour."

The girls went bead red again and Harry said loudly, "Ehww mom, we did NOT need to hear that."

Realising she had said it out loud Gabrielle blushed a little and she could feel Aurora grinning through their link, apparently she had been listening to the entire conversation and said, _"Remember sweetie, some things are better not mentioned outside of the bedroom."_

" _Oh that's rich coming from you. Remember that day in_ _Jerusalem? That_ _big mouth of yours almost got us kicked out of the Holy Land for indecent conversations in the royal palace."_

" _Hush, I thought we agreed never to mention that day again, and besides, if I remember correctly, we had both done plenty of indecent things that night."_

Gabrielle turned bright red as she remembered the events Aurora meant.

Harry and the girls looked a little amused when they saw Gabrielle turn red for no apparent reason and realised it must have been about something Aurora had said through their link.

Ginny got a little mischievous grin on her face and pulled the other three towards her while Gabrielle was distracted by the conversation with Aurora.

"Okay guys listen up", the grin on her face reminded them of the same grins her twin brothers got when they were planning a prank, and they were soon carrying similar grins themselves.

When Gabrielle came back to herself again she saw the quartet huddled together, with Fleur again softly rubbing the backs of Ginny and Hermione, and said a little suspicious, "What are you four whispering about?"

The group quickly turned to her and said as one, "Nothing." Gabrielle looked still a little suspicious but decided to let the matter slip. If it was important they would tell them eventually.

She stood up and said to the kids, "Have you decided on which bikini's you are going to take?" The girls nodded and Harry held up his swim shorts, which were coincidently the same colour combination as the girls' bikini's.

Gabrielle nodded in acceptance and said to the girls, "Then I suggest you three get dressed again. Please hand me the clothes when you have them off, so I can pay for them while you finish getting dressed."

The girls went back to their fitting rooms and soon after Gabrielle was handed three identical pairs of bikini tops and bottoms. While she and Harry went to the checkout to pay for their purchases, the girls finished dressing and they joined them at the exit.

While they were strolling past the many stores in the muggle part of London, they passed an ice-cream parlour and Gabrielle asked, "You guys want to find out if they can match Florean?"

They all nodded enthusiastically and Gabrielle led them into the ice-cream parlour. To their dismay they found it was rather crowded and they were forced to join the very long queue. "Look at the bright side," said Ginny, "if they are this busy than they must be good."

The others realised she had a point and they waited a little bit less frustrated as the queue got shorter before them, while getting longer behind them.

When it was their turn the kids looked eagerly into the display case and to their surprise they found a lot of the flavours they knew from Florean Fortescue's parlour in Diagon Alley. Looking up to the man behind the counter they saw a man who looked exactly like Florean, only quite a few years younger.

The man looked at the looks of the kids and said with a grin, "I assume you know my father, Florean Fortescue." The kids nodded and the man added, "I thought so. Nice to meet you, my name is Francis Fortescue."

They each gave him a hand and introduced themselves. When he heard Harry's name he was surprised and said softly, "It is an honour to meet you Mister Potter, but I would suggest not dropping your name so freely. Muggle London is not as safe at it would appear for the hero of the wizarding world."

Gabrielle was the next to give Francis a hand and after introducing herself she added, "Don't worry Mister Fortescue, I'll keep an eye on them."

Francis nodded to her and asked to the kids, "What do you want to have; it's on the house for you."

They each picked their favourites and said goodbye to Francis before they left the shop, each licking a large cone with several flavours of ice-cream in it.

They slowly made their way back towards the Leaky Cauldron and entered it after finishing the last of their ice-cream. Tom greeted them with his usual cheer and after making some small talk as they took the floo back home.

Aurora was waiting for them in the kitchen where she was talking with Dan and Emma who had come home earlier to spend some time with the kids before they would leave the next morning.

Harry and the girls went upstairs when Aurora told them to put the last things in their backpacks and that they would come and get them when dinner as ready.

The quartet quickly made their way upstairs and towards their room. Before they entered though, Hermione drew her wand and cast a spell on the elevator which would tell them if anyone was coming their way.

Half an hour later dinner was ready and Gabrielle asked Rosy to get the kids. The elf popped away but returned almost immediately with a bright red face and stuttered, "Miss... mistress... they... they... y... you shou... should g... go yourselves."

Growing very curious the four adults went towards the elevator and exited on the floor of the kids. Before they reached the door however they noticed what had shocked Rosy and they all wend bright red as well.

A series of very unsettling noises were coming from the room of the kids.

They could hear two of the girls softly panting as if they were doing some very intense exercising and Harry and Hermione were talking in short panting sentences.

"Mione is this good?"

"Ohh yes Harry that is sooo good." Hermione answered

"That looks so good Mione. I can't wait till you do the same with me," they heard Ginny pant.

"Ahh," groaned Fleur, "a little harder Gin, this feels so good. Ohh, that's the spot keep doing that."

The adults had heard enough and Aurora threw the door open.

There was a bright flash and they were momentarily blinded. When they could see again they saw Harry and Hermione sitting at the table, both with a half-finished sock they were knitting.

Fleur and Ginny were on the bed and Ginny was massaging Fleur's shoulders. All four were fully dressed, except for Fleur who was wearing a tank top. The kids were all looking at the door and trying to contain their laughter.

"What's going on here?" asked Dan on a tone that clearly said, 'speak up or you're in trouble.

At this the four broke down in laughter and after half a minute Hermione managed to stand up and walked towards the bed. They could see a magical Polaroid camera set up at the foot of the bed and Hermione removed a photograph from it.

She took one look at the picture and burst out laughing again. Ginny plucked the picture from Hermione's hand while the latter was lying on the ground laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.

Fleur looked over Ginny's shoulder at the picture and both girls broke out in laughter as well. Harry couldn't contain himself and raced to the bed where Ginny handed him the picture. Just like the other three Harry burst out laughing and joined Hermione on the ground, tears running over his face.

The adults were completely surprised, as the sounds they had heard had caused a completely different image in their minds. Emma was the first to recover and walked into the room to take a look at the picture.

When she saw it she couldn't help it and had to laugh as well. She showed the picture to the others and they understood the cause for their merriment.

The picture showed the four adults as they entered the room. It was in colour so the blushes on their cheeks were clearly visible. It was a magical picture so it moved and they watched as their own faces turned from blushing, to shocked, to amazed, and finally to confused, before repeating the motions.

Gabrielle grinned and said, "I think we have just been pranked by those four. It seems obvious they wanted to let us think they were doing something and capture our reaction to it."

The four laughing kids nodded in agreement and when she stopped laughing Hermione said, "The looks on your faces, that's just priceless. Ginny got the idea this afternoon during our little conversation with Gabrielle in the sports store."

The four adults shook their heads with a small smile on their faces and Aurora said, "Anyway kids, dinner is ready so come downstairs." They nodded and stood up to follow the adults.

When they entered the kitchen the kids were forced to explain the situation to the elves as they all got bright red at seeing the quartet. When Ginny showed them the picture the elves were laughing just as hard as the kids had done while the others sat down at the table.

After dinner they all went to the game room and spend the evening with several bowling matches and a very aggressive game of risk between two alliances. Harry and the girls were doing their utmost best to crush the resistance put up by the adults.

The game they had was the medieval version of wizarding risk and worked much the same as wizards chess. Each alliance had around half the map, the adults in Europe and the kids in Asia. They each fielded massive armies of mounted knights, foot soldiers, archers, and artillery, which were defending or besieging a whole mass of fortresses and reinforced cities.

The soldier-figurines they were using were between one and two inches in height. The map was twelve by twenty feet. On two sides of the map sat couches for each alliance.

The dice were thrown onto two small tables which projected the outcome above them to prevent cheating.

The kids were besieging Constantinople, which was the adults' last base east of Warsaw, when it was Aurora's turn to throw the dice.

She had a wicked grin and pulled three cards from her reinforcement's deck and put them on the table before them.

She held three jokers and the kids groaned as one, while the adults cheered. The wizarding rules were a little different than the muggle version and when Aurora put down the three jokers it meant she could reinforce the defending army with 1500 unit-points. With a cost of 50 points per unit, this meant she could send in 30 new units.

Still grinning Aurora sent 10 units of 25 mounted knights and 20 units of 50 foot soldiers to the defences and managed to break the siege with ease. Driving the kids back with heavy casualties Aurora managed to capture 5 cities with her new army and throw the kids on the defensive.

When her turn was over it was Harry's turn and he chose to reinforce his army with three jokers as well. The following battle was hard fought and grim as the small stone soldiers fought tooth and nail for every inch of the map.

The 'war' continued for several hours until the kids were finally beaten when Dan took their last stronghold, the Forbidden City, and it was game over.

When they had cleaned up everything they went to bed, as it was late and they had to rise early the next morning.

At 06:00 the alarm went in the room of the kids and one by one they went to their bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

At 06:35 they entered the kitchen and found the four adults already seated there in their bathrobes. "Morning," the kids yawned and sat down at the table, where Daisy and Fredrick put large plates with eggs, bacon, toast, beans, and sausages before them.

At precisely 07:00, Sirius, Remus and Dora came walking into the kitchen, each wearing hiking clothes and carrying large backpacks. "Ready to go kids?" asked Sirius when he had set his backpack down on the floor.

All four nodded enthusiastically and ran upstairs to get their own backpacks, while Sirius, Remus and Dora sat down at the table.

"When will Ilona get here Sirius?" asked Gabrielle when he had sat down.

"Kreacher is bringing her over around noon. She is very tired at the moment so she wanted to sleep in."

Gabrielle nodded at Sirius' answer and Aurora asked, "Are you sure you'll manage Sirius, we have no idea what they will become so you might not be able to control them."

Sirius grinned and waved her objection away saying, "I'm a Grim, we have two trained MSS agents with us, and Ivan will be nearby with several squads of Legionnaires. We have brought nets, chains, ropes, everything we could possibly need to restrain them. We'll be fine so don't worry." Aurora rolled her eyes as if to say, 'don't come screaming when I'm right', and they waited in silence until the kids arrived.

After they were gathered in the kitchen again, Sirius stood up and said grinning, "Okay kids, time to get going." He picked up his own backpack and led the way out of the kitchen towards the entrance hall.

Remus grabbed a rope from his backpack and after each of the kids had received a hug from Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Emma, they took the rope and Dora did as well. Sirius was the last to grab the rope and when he did, the portkey activated and they vanished from the marble floor of the entrance hall.

The remaining inhabitants of Potter manor decided unanimously to return to bed, as Ilona wouldn't arrive for at least 4 hours.

Precisely at the strike of noon, there was a POP in the kitchen of Potter manor and Kreacher appeared carrying several bags and accompanied by Ilona and James.

Emma was the only one in the kitchen at that moment and quickly helped Ilona towards a chair, while she called Charles to inform the others that their guests had arrived.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Dan arrived at the same time at the kitchen a few minutes later and welcomed Ilona.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the beach and Ilona relieved the weight of her swollen belly by floating softly in the warm water of the lake.

A few hours after dinner, which had been an excellent BBQ, courtesy of Kreacher, the relaxed silence in the lake room was broken by a loud beeping noise. It came from the folding mirror Aurora had gotten from Sirius to contact them. Aurora picked up the mirror and opened it.

They could hear a loud growl coming from the mirror and Sirius' frightened looking face appeared. "WE GOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM," he yelled at them.

Sirius looked away from the mirror for a moment and on the background they could hear Dora and several others scream and a wolf howling in pain. Before they could ask anything, Sirius added, "WE'RE AT THE LEGION TRAINING CAMP. WE NEED HELP RIGHT NOW, THEY'RE OUT OF CONTROL."

Authors note:

I know I know, another cliff-hanger we all just love those.

I would really like to hear from all of you. To those of you who already review, thank you very much it encourages me to keep writing. To everyone else, please let me know what you think.

I love to get detailed reviews as they help me with finding out what kind of things flow well with the story.

Next chapter might be a little confusing in the beginning but it'll become clearer later on.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak


	5. Chapter 5

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 5

When the portkey stopped spinning it had deposited the group in a dense forest on the side of a hill in the Scottish Highlands.

Despite their heavy backpacks the entire group had managed to land on their feet and Remus calmly rolled up the rope again before tucking it in his backpack, while Sirius looked around them to get a bearing of where they were.

Dora and the kids where likewise looking around them and enjoying the view around them.

"Okay let's get going," Sirius said, while leading them towards the hill top. "We have a few miles to cross before we get to our camp site so try to keep up."

He aimed the last part at Harry and the girls but thanks to their training, it was soon clear that it was the three adults who would have to try and keep up with the kids.

About an hour before noon they arrived at a large clearing in a valley and saw a lake, several barracks and an obstacle course. Groups of men and women were running over the obstacle course or swimming laps in the lake.

Sirius smirked at the kids and opening his arms he said, "Welcome to the Legion training camp. Those guys out there are wanne-be Legionnaires, but they won't bother us as we are just passing by."

True to his word, the groups of recruits left them alone but a familiar voice was heard amongst the group of masked Legionnaires. The giant masked man approached them and when he stood before them he removed his mask, it was Ivan.

"Hello there," Ivan grinned at the kids and Sirius, "are you here already, I didn't expect to see you here for at least an hour or two."

The kids rolled their eyes and Harry said in a mock exasperated tone, "We could have been here an hour ago. But those slowpokes", he indicated the adults while saying this, "weren't able to keep up with our pace."

Ivan burst out laughing and his loud voice could be heard throughout the valley. "It's always the same with your kind, dangerous in a short fight but your stamina is worthless."

Remus and Dora began stuttering objections and Sirius said loudly, "Well I'm sorry to disagree Mister Rostock, but according to your daughter my stamina is very good."

The look on Ivan's face shut him immediately up and Ivan growled, "If you want to give me anymore grandchildren I suggest you behave Mister Black, or else I'll be forced to make you disappoint my daughter."

Sirius shrunk away before the giant Russian and the others could hear him mutter, "Yes sir, I'll behave."

Ivan nodded once and turned towards the kids, "And how are you four doing, having fun so-far?"

The quartet was still grinning about the way Ivan had shut up Sirius and Hermione answered, "We're alright uncle Ivan. We are looking forward to tonight as we're going to attempt our first transformation after dinner."

Ivan looked intrigued and asked, "Dan did mention something about that, do you have any idea what kind of animal form you guys have?"

The kids shook their head and Ginny said, "Nope, according to Sirius and Remus, we won't know for sure until we start the ritual."

The others nodded and Harry added, "If you're curious though, you're more than welcome to come and join us tonight. Sirius did mention something about needing to be restrained, so your help might be needed."

At this Ivan turned towards the three adults and Remus was the one to explain, as Sirius was still unable to look Ivan in the eye. "During the first transformation of an animagus, the animal instinct will be unleashed on the body and depending on the kind of animal, they can react quite violently. We brought nets, chains and ropes to restrain them if needed, but some extra manpower could be useful, as we do know they all have very powerful forms."

Ivan nodded thoughtfully and said, "I could bring a few Legionnaires with me, how many do you think you will need?"

Remus was silent for a moment as he thought about it until he said, "I remember it took James, Peter, Lily and me to restrain Sirius during his first transformation, and these four could be even more powerful than him. If we are going to do them all at the same time, which is the easiest, I'd say three for each so about a dozen total, and just to be safe tell them to be armoured."

Ivan nodded and said goodbye to the group, before donning his mask again and returning to yell at the recruits.

Now that Ivan had left, Sirius felt confident enough to take the lead again and he led them towards the edge of the clearing, where they started to unpack their tents.

Harry and the girls were struggling with erecting their own tent so they didn't see the grins of Sirius and Remus as they opened one of their backpacks and Sirius gave a little wave with his wand.

Their tent flew out, started erecting itself, and was done within a minute, while it took the kids over 15 minutes to put theirs up. When they were finally done, they looked around them and saw Sirius, Remus and Dora, lying in lounge chairs with large glasses filled with fruit juice in their hands.

"How... how... how did you do it that quickly?" stuttered Hermione, while the other three just stared in jealousy at the glasses of fruit juice.

Sirius let out a barking laugh and Remus grinned, "Juice is in the refrigerator in the kitchen." He pointed at the opening of the two-person tent behind him and the kids looked a little surprised when they heard him say the words, 'refrigerator' and 'kitchen'.

"Ehh, how do you mean refrigerator?" asked Fleur a little confused.

Dora raised her glass and said, "Magical tent. It's a three-bedroom apartment in there."

Now the kids were unable to contain their curiosity and one by one they entered the tent. "Wow," Harry and Ginny said at the same time, while Hermione and Fleur looked their eyes out at the warm brown wood interior of the tent.

"I really love magic," Harry said as he studied the crystal chandelier that hung in the middle of the living room they had entered.

The other three nodded and said as one, "Yea me to."

They quickly found the kitchen and Ginny filled four glasses with fruit juice before handing them to the others. They each picked up one of the foldable lounge chairs before making their way outside and joining the adults.

The afternoon was spent with Sirius and Remus telling Dora and the kids about the 12 rules of the Marauder code. These rules were as followed,

 _Never prank someone who is weaker than yourself, or groups that are smaller than your own._

 _Never use someone's disabilities against them._

 _Never inflict permanent harm, either physically or mentally, on the victim(s) of your pranks._

 _Never allow bigotry or stupid pure-blood superiority to go unpunished._

 _Never use the easiest way to perform your prank, always think outside the box to make it seem more complicated than it actually is._

 _Never prank a teacher (unless you can get away with it)._

 _Always try to make your pranks as spectacular as possible._

 _Always make sure everyone can laugh about it afterwards._

 _Always leave a calling card but don't use your own names._

 _Always protect the weak from the strong or the many._

 _Always make sure to prepare as well as can be, half work, doesn't work._

 _Always make sure at least one Slytherin is amongst the victims of your pranks._

They spent until dinner discussing these rules, as Sirius and Remus wanted to make them really understand them, and not just blindly follow them.

For dinner Sirius brought out a charcoal grill and started to prepare an assortment of drumsticks, burgers, steaks and ribs, while Dora prepared several salads and other side dishes. Remus and the kids took a table from the tent and decked it for seven.

The main topic during dinner was the possible forms Harry and the girls would take during the ritual later that night. Harry was hoping for a Nundu, Hermione wanted a Sphinx, Ginny hoped to become a Chimaera and Fleur wanted to become a Phoenix.

Dora was a bit put out to discover that because of her Metamorphmagus abilities, she didn't have an animagus form. So instead she just tried to rile up the kids by saying that they would all become Pygmy Puffs, this to the immense amusement of Sirius and Remus.

When dinner was finally over, they cleared up the table and everything else, before waiting till dark to begin the ritual.

Ivan had come walking to their tents, followed by 12 masked Legionnaires and a few dozen curious recruits. Amongst the group of recruits were several Māori from New Zealand, half a dozen Swedes, a dozen Germans and a couple of Russians.

When night had fallen, Sirius, Remus and Dora started to light a ring of torches with a diameter of 30 ft. Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Fleur were sent to their own (non-magical) tent to get dressed in simple white robes, as clothes were usually torn during the first transformation.

The Legionnaires and recruits were looking on with interest, while Ivan explained what they were going to do. The recruits were on their fifteenth day, so they had been briefed about magic and everything around it. They only had to do the graduation exam to earn the mask, which was scheduled for the next day.

When the circle was ready, Sirius took a small bag from his backpack and handed it to Remus, before taking out a second, identical bag for himself. They opened the bags and began to spread its powdered contents within the circle of torches.

When the two marauders had created an intricate pattern within the circle, Sirius withdrew a large lump of pure silver, bought quite expensively from the goblins, and placed it in a stone bowl.

He next took out his wand and started a complicated and intricate spell, all the while not speaking a word. The lump of silver slowly melted in the bowl and became a shiny liquid mass.

While Sirius kept performing the complicated spell, Remus explained what he was doing. "Ideally this ritual has to be performed during the full moon, but because of my lycanthropy, we have to improvise. We can simulate the full moon by creating one of pure silver and laying it on the ground. Performing the ritual on the silver moon will give the same effect as doing it under a full moon."

In the meantime, Sirius was completing the spell and the molten mass of liquid silver flowed out of the stone bowl. Spreading out over the ground, it formed a large circle 15 ft across. When the silver had cooled down, Sirius removed the stone bowl and placed it back in his backpack where it came from.

Sirius indicated it was ready and Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny sat down on their knees, each in their own quarter of the circle. Meanwhile Dora, Ivan and the Legionnaires where preparing the chains, nets and ropes they might be needing.

When everything was ready, Sirius and Remus took op a position on the north and south side of the circle of torches, spreading their arms as to envelope the circle, they began to speak in unison. They spoke in ancient Greek, but the kids knew what they were saying, as Sirius and Remus had told them beforehand.

"We call upon the spirit of the moon, shine your light upon your image and reveal the animals within. Help these children on their path to discover who they are, so that they might use their powers for good."

When they stopped speaking, several things happened at the same time.

The large silver circle was engulfed by blinding light and a pure white dome formed over it, hiding the four children within from sight.

Up in the sky, the half moon suddenly turned full and went from white to blood red.

Remus fell on the ground and started thrashing uncontrollably, he was transforming.

Ivan was the first to realise what was happening and started yelling orders. He pointed at four Legionnaires on his left and said, "You four, take a net and try to contain the werewolf, whatever you do make sure he doesn't bite you." The four men took up one of the heavy, with steel wire reinforced nets, and threw it over the still thrashing form of Lupin.

Sirius was still staring between the blood-red full moon above them and his thrashing and screaming friend under the net. Remus was halfway through his transformation and covered in long and shaggy grey hair. His clawed hands were tearing open his clothes as his chest expanded and his legs burst out of his trousers.

Dora looked in fear as her boyfriend was changing. He had told her that the transformations were extremely painful and he had asked her not to come by during the full moon, as he spent the entire three days in a large, specially made cage in his basement.

The remaining Legionnaires and the recruits were staring at the things that were happening in front of them and looked to be unsure of what they were supposed to do. Ivan ran between them and was still giving orders.

"The Germans, take up the nets and spread around the dome, be ready to throw the nets over them, as soon as the dome disappears. Whatever form they have taken, it is somehow responsible for this unnatural occurrence. Swedes, take up the chains and be ready to assist in containing the children. Russians, take those ropes and help them bind that werewolf. The rest of you, take up chains and ropes and for the love of all that is holy, make sure the kids don't hurt anyone, or themselves. Aurora will never forgive us if we let them get hurt."

At that moment a deep, low growl could be heard from within the dome and its shinning surface began to crack. Seconds later the dome shattered and through the cloud of mist that came from within it, they could see four shapes moving within.

Lupin had completed his transformation and the werewolf was clawing and biting around him, in an attempt to get out of the nets that bound him. Sirius was not sure but he thought that the werewolf sounded... afraid.

Three large wolves the size of a small horse came from the mist, one dark brown, one red brown, and one pure silver white. They were standing behind the fourth figure, it was also a wolf, but it was immense, pitch black, with burning emerald eyes and the size of a large horse. Its back was level with Sirius' shoulders and a deep growl came from its throat.

The wolves were covered in thick soft fur with long snouts, and broad jaws filled with razor sharp teeth and claws with ivory nails an inch in length.

The black wolf looked at the red moon before it turned towards the werewolf and let out the same low growl as before. The other three followed his example and suddenly they launched themselves at the trapped werewolf.

Before they could move more than a few feet, Ivan yelled, "NOW", and from all sides large nets were thrown over the wolfs and chains followed after the nets.

For a moment it seemed as though they had caught them all and the for the three smaller ones that was indeed true. However, the black wolf tore the steel wire nets to shreds as if they had been made of paper.

Standing to its full height, the black wolf howled at the moon and suddenly a soft whisper of voices could be heard on the wind as though invisible spirits were talking to them. There were two voices both were female and they sounded very old.

" _When the Blood-Moon rises."_

" _When Fenrir howls again."_

" _Full moon's terror will be undone."_

" _And the Lycans days will be numbered."_

Before the black wolf could move again, Ivan led his men towards him and they threw chains and more nets and ropes over him to keep him down, and to prevent him from harming anyone.

Ivan was pulling with all his strength at a cable and yelled, "SIRIUS, WE NEED HELP, CALL AURORA AND GABRIELLE! WE CANNOT HOLD HIM FOR LONG!"

Sirius was to shocked to react though, so Dora ran up at him and slapped him in his face, shaking him awake again. "Ehh yea right I'll do that," he said quickly and ran into the tent to look for the mirror.

When he had found it, he quickly opened it and ran back outside yelling, "AURORA," at the mirror.

It took a few seconds before Aurora's face appeared and he yelled, "WE GOT A SERIOUS PROBLEM!"

At that moment Sirius got distracted as Dora, Ivan and a dozen others who were tugging on the chains, were pulled of their feet when the black wolf rushed forward and clawed at the still bound werewolf. The claws tore through the nets and opened several large gashes on the werewolf's side, causing it to howl in pain.

Sirius turned back to the mirror in his hands and yelled, "WE'RE AT THE LEGION TRAINING CAMP. WE NEED HELP RIGHT NOW, THEY'RE OUT OF CONTROL!"

At Potter Manor Aurora and Gabrielle said at the same time, "We're on our way", before they flamed out of the lake room and directly into their wardrobe. Within two minutes they were wearing their armour and they flamed away again, this time to the Scottish Highlands.

They appeared in a scene of utter chaos, there were Legionnaires and recruits running around everywhere. They turned around when they heard Ivan yell, "He's getting away."

When they saw the immense black wolf shrugging off the many chains, and tearing apart the nets and ropes Sirius and Dora kept conjuring around him, they stared open-mouthed at it until they both said at the same time, "Ragnarok."

When the wolf heard them speak, it stopped as if it recognised something in the word they had said and after turning slowly around, he approached Aurora and Gabrielle.

When the giant wolf stood before the two women, to the astonishment of all those present, it bowed its mighty head and they bowed to him in turn. Aurora softly lay her right hand on the snout of the wolf and said, "It is good to see you again after so many years my old friend."

The wolf growled softly as if it responded and Gabrielle smiled at it before she too put a hand on the wolf's snout and said, "It's been to long Ragnarok, we thought they killed you and the others during the Northern Crusade."

The wolf lowered his mighty head and whined softly as if to say, "They did indeed." He nudged his head towards where the other three wolves were still fighting against the nets and chains holding them down.

Aurora ran towards the men and women holding the chains and said angrily, "What the hell are you doing, let them go they won't harm you."

Most of the recruits looked with questioning looks at Ivan, as they hadn't seen either Aurora or Gabrielle before.

Ivan, Sirius and Dora came running at Aurora and Gabrielle, but stopped immediately when the black wolf turned his head towards them and led out a low growl, while baring his impressive fangs.

When they heard the growl, Aurora and Gabrielle turned around and smiled a little amused at the cautious looks on their faces. "Don't worry," Gabrielle said to the wolf, instead of against the trio of humans. "They are friendly."

The wolf covered his fangs again but kept a suspicious eye on the humans. Aurora cleared her throat and when she had the attention of both the three humans and the wolf, she said, "Ragnarok, meet Sirius, Ivan and Dora. Sirius, Ivan Dora, meet Ragnarok, a true creature of legend."

Gabrielle looked around her while Aurora made the introductions and said, "Where are Harry and the girls?"

Sirius, Ivan and Dora gave her an incredulous look, which were returned with raised eyebrows and Gabrielle who said, "I'm serious, where are the kids?"

Sirius swallowed once and pointed at the large black wolf before them and the three wolves still caught in the nets. The other three had stopped fighting against their restraints and seemed to listen to their conversation.

The thing they were all afraid of happened as Aurora and Gabrielle exploded, "WHAT."

Aurora marched over to the trapped wolves and drawing one of her swords, she freed them with two well placed strokes. The trio of wolves sprung up and shook their thick fur, before joining Ragnarok.

When they were all gathered Gabrielle pinched her nose and said, "Okay I want a full explanation and can someone tell me where the hell Remus is hanging out."

Dora was the one to answer her and said, "I think everything went according to plan with the ritual, until the moon turned full and blood-red. Remus started changing and as soon as his transformation was complete, the dome around the children shattered and those four wolves appeared."

"They're not wolves," corrected Aurora her calmly. "They are called Fenrirs. They were guardians of the Norse legends, until the Christians came and hunted them to extinction as part of their christening of the Norse lands in the 11th century."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "Unfortunately we were occupied at that time and when we got word of what was happening, it was already too late and they had killed them all."

Sirius, Ivan and Dora were silent when they heard this and when Gabrielle continued her tale, they were all surprised at what she said.

"Allow me to make an assumption. As soon as the mist cleared, all four of them tried to charge at Remus and you idiots tried to stop them, causing their wrath to turn to you."

Dora and Sirius nodded and Ivan said, "Of course we tried to stop them. We were told that we would have to contain them and prevent them from harming anyone, so that is exactly what we did."

Gabrielle nodded slowly and said, "I would never have thought it could be this form they would take, but it might just be very good news for our war effort."

Before anyone could ask what she meant, there came a loud snap from just behind Dora and the men holding the werewolf cried in surprise. The werewolf had broken out of its weakened restraints and thrown the men holding it off its back.

Before anyone could react, the werewolf launched itself at the nearest person and started biting and clawing anyone within its reach.

Sirius was about to turn into his Grim form and distract the werewolf, when a massive black blur sped past him. The group of humans followed the black blur with their eyes and saw that is was Ragnarok, the giant wolf had launched himself at the werewolf. Using the momentum of his jump to smash into the werewolf, they both rolled over the grass, in a howling mass of biting jaws and ripping claws.

It appeared that the werewolf had the upper hand and Sirius changed to help Ragnarok fight off the werewolf.

"STOP", yelled Aurora through the clearing, and everyone, except for Ragnarok and the werewolf, stopped what they were doing and looked toward her.

"Let them fight," she said with a dark look on her face, while the werewolf and Ragnarok vanished between the trees. To the astonishment of all the humans in the clearing, she and Gabrielle then looked up to the blood-red moon and began to recite a familiar set of lines.

" _When the Blood-Moon rises._

 _When Fenrir howls again._

 _Full moon's terror will be undone._

 _And the Lycans days shall be numbered."_

The human occupants of the valley all looked at Aurora and Gabrielle in shock and Sirius turned back to his human form to ask, "How did you know those lines, we heard them on the wind when Ragnarok first howled at the moon."

The two women looked at Sirius and Gabrielle sad coldly, "We know them, because we were the ones who first spoke them when we found out what had happened to Ragnarok and his kin. Those were the last lines we used to put a curse on the Lycans that helped the Christians to hunt down the Fenrirs.

From that day onwards, they themselves would be forever hunted down and killed. Only when the Fenrirs returned would they find salvation from this curse. Before those days, Lycans were kindred to the Fenrirs and being a werewolf was seen as a gift from the gods, as it increased your strength on the battlefield. After those days the Lycans became cursed, as with the Fenrirs absence, they could no longer control their bloodlust during the full moon and many became feral."

At that moment a soft groan caught their attention and they turned towards it source, only to stop dead in their tracks.

It was Dora, she lay on the ground and her back was torn open and bleeding severely. But that wasn't the worst. The three remaining Fenrirs growled at the severely wounded woman and all who were present could see the lines of bleeding teeth marks on her right shoulder. She had been bitten by the werewolf.

Author's note:

I thought the Prisoner of Azkaban version of a werewolf was rather disappointing, so if you want to know how I have them look in my version, just Google for; Van Helsing, werewolf.

P.S. I don't own Van Helsing, I just think they made a kick-ass werewolf.

Also I would like to state that I have nothing against Christianity or the catholic church. It is just a fact that they sometimes used less decent ways to spread their beliefs and often killed anyone who didn't agree with them, like with the crusades and the inquisition.

Please let me know what you all think, I really appreciate that.\

Till next week

Medieval Maniak


	6. Chapter 6

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 6

Sirius rushed to Dora's side and tried to help her, but no matter what he tried, he could not stop the bleeding, or close the wound by magic.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Ivan stood next to Sirius and Dora. Ivan was looking worried at the wound, but Aurora and Gabrielle didn't seem to really be worried.

Aurora put a hand on Sirius' shoulder and said, "Do not worry Sirius, everything will be alright after she has changed."

Sirius looked up at her with disbelieving eyes and said coldly, "How can you say that. She will become a werewolf, just like Remus, she'll be an outcast."

"No she will not." Came the short reply from Aurora. "Once she has changed, we can cure her."

Sirius, Ivan and all the Legionnaires looked up at this and stared at Aurora and Gabrielle. "What do you mean, you can cure her?" asked Sirius. "If you two can cure lycanthropy, then why haven't you cured Remus, or any of the others?"

Gabrielle softly cleared her throat and all eyes turned towards her. "We haven't cured him, because until now, we didn't have the proper means to do so. There is but one cure for lycanthropy, and it has been missing from the world for more than 9 centuries, Fenrir venom."

Sirius looked confused but Ivan's eyes widened as he realised what she was suggesting. "So Ragnarok didn't try to kill Remus."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "Indeed, he wanted to cure him. However, the werewolf will resist the attempt to cure it and will fight back. That is why I told you to let them fight, Ragnarok wanted to lure the werewolf away to a place were more innocent casualties could be avoided."

As if to prove her point, Ragnarok burst out of the trees with a, naked, wounded, and bleeding, but none the less laughing, Remus Lupin on his back.

When Ragnarok stopped before them, Sirius gave a little wave with his wand and Remus was suddenly dressed in a simple black robe. Remus jumped from Ragnarok's back and embraced his oldest friend.

"I'M CURED!" he yelled through the clearing before turning to Sirius and asked, with a big grin on his face, "Where is Dora? I can't wait to tell her the good news."

Sirius swallowed and brought Remus to Dora, who was now lying on Gabrielle's lap, while Aurora was stitching up her wounds.

The grin vanished from Remus' face, before he actually reached her and when he saw his girlfriend lying there, he broke.

Remus slumped to the ground and cried, "What have I done, she didn't deserve this."

"She is not dead, Remus." Gabrielle interrupted Remus' self blaming. "Her body is being taken over by the werewolf venom. When its work is done and she has been fully turned, we can cure her. So don't worry, she will be fine before morning."

At that moment a soft groan came from Dora's lips and Remus was next to her in a second.

"R... Rem... Remus."

"I'm here Dora."

"Ho.. how come you... you're not a wo... wolf? "

Remus grasped Dora's limp left hand and held it softly against his cheek, "I'm cured, Dora. The black wolf has cured me, and we will cure you as well. You... you'll be all right love."

Dora managed a very week smile and said softly, "You... you called me love, you never did be... before."

"I know Dora, and I'm so sorry I haven't before. But allow me to make amends for that right now."

Remus sat down on his knees and holding her hand against his chest he moved towards her ear and whispered four small words in her ear, "Will you marry me?"

Tears began streaming over Dora's cheeks and suddenly life came back in her left arm. She grabbed Remus by the front of his robes and pulled him towards her, pressing her lips on his and whispering back to him she said, "Of course I will marry you, you silly fur ball."

Remus was crying in joy but Aurora pulled back from Dora and took Remus with her. "Back off Remus, she has begun to change. I don't have to tell you how painful a first transformation is for a werewolf, so please give her room. Gabrielle and I will help her were we can, until Ragnarok, or one of the others can cure her."

Remus nodded slowly but said, "I, I know, but I want to be here for her. During my first transformation I was fully aware of everything around me. I _have_ to be here for her."

Gabrielle nodded with a soft smile while Aurora turned to the Legionnaires and said, "Ivan, please make sure everyone returns to their beds. All those who helped to restrain Ragnarok and the others have passed their Baptism by Fire. It took great courage for them to take the field against creatures that could have killed them with the bat of a paw while not wielding any kind of weapons themselves."

Ivan grinned as he had suspected she would say something like that and the recruits all cheered while Ivan led them back to their barracks.

When only Aurora, Gabrielle, Sirius, Remus and the Fenrirs were left, Dora let out a long painful mourn and began to resist against Aurora's hand that held her pressed in Gabrielle's lap.

Over the course of the next few minutes, the wounds on Dora's back mended themselves. They left not a trace behind, except for the rows of teeth marks on her right shoulder which turned into small white scars.

When her face began to get hairy, and her body started to broaden and lengthen, Gabrielle sent Sirius into the tent to prepare a midnight meal, and forbade him to return outside before he was called. Sirius left without protest, but handed Remus his wand back before he entered the tent.

When Sirius was gone, Aurora and Gabrielle slowly undressed Dora, while keeping her restrained at the same time. By the time she was naked, Dora's entire body was covered in soft, light brown hair that began getting longer as her body continued to grow in size.

As soon as the transformation was fully complete, something changed in Dora's eyes. They turned from light brown, to burning red. As soon as he saw this, Ragnarok stepped forward and bit down on Dora's right shoulder.

She let out a terrible howl before the werewolf's fur began to fall off of her and she slowly shrank back to her normal size. Remus had used his wand to mend Dora's clothes and when she finally looked like herself again, he helped Gabrielle to dress her.

It took a while for Dora to regain consciousness, but when she did the first thing she did was fling herself at Remus and cover his face in kisses. "I. Really. Love. You. You. Big. Fur Ball." accentuating each word with a kiss.

Remus was so happy to have Dora back in his arms and unharmed that he couldn't help the tears running over his cheeks. "Do... do you remember what I asked you before you changed?"

Dora grinned and said with a cheeky grin on her face, "Of course I remembered. You didn't think I would let my fiancé chicken out on me now did you?"

Remus got the same cheeky grin on his face as Dora was still sporting while she whispered, "Why don't we go to our room and you can remind me why I chose to keep you."

Remus blushed when he saw the knowing smiles of Aurora and Gabrielle but Dora didn't even bother looking back at the two women, as she was dragging her husband-to-be towards the entrance of the tent.

When it was just Aurora, Gabrielle and the four Fenrirs, they walked towards the lake as a group and the Fenrirs sat down besides the water's edge. Aurora and Gabrielle turned to their dragon form and lowered themselves into the cool water, letting themselves be massaged by the soft swells of the lake, while they talked with Ragnarok.

Their dragon forms allowed them to speak with the ancient guardian spirit, as he was gifted with the ability of telepathic speech with other animals.

He told them of how their lives had been brought to a brutal end. He and his kin had been hunted down one by one until he and his sisters, the three valkyries, where the last ones alive. They had made their last stand at the glacier that housed their den.

A great battle had followed wherein they had killed many of the attackers trying to kill them. Ragnarok had managed to kill Odin, the great Norse Bishop and leader of the army, before his sons Thor and Loki snuck up on him from behind a pile of corpses and attacked him it the rear, killing him with a treacherous lance to the back.

His sisters had witnessed his death and blindly ran to their brother, running headlong into a trap. A line of spear wielding muggles had sprung from behind the rocks and attacked them from the sides, killing them also.

In turn Aurora and Gabrielle had told them what they had done once they found out what happened to the Fenrirs. Once the two women had heard of the Northern Crusade, they had rushed to help their friends and flamed directly to the glacier.

They arrived mere hours after the battle was over and found an army, drunk with their victory, humiliating and desecrating the corpses of their slain foes. They had collected the pelts of every Fenrir they had killed and piled them beneath the beheaded and tortured corpses of Ragnarok and his sisters. They were doing a victory dance around the pile and drunk soldiers pissed against the pile of hides and corpses.

Only a single soldier of that army had lived to see dawn as they had left him alive to witness how they were all, one, by, one, cut to shreds and torn apart by their fury. He was sent back to Rome with only the head of Odin and the message that from that day on, anyone who dared to set foot on that glacier, would meet their end by their hands.

They had given Ragnarok and the valkyries a funeral worthy of a Norse king. They had taken the biggest longship they could find from the fleet that had brought the army and burned the rest.

On the longship they made a pyre, put the remains of Ragnarok and the valkyries on the pyre and piled the skins of the others around them. Piling the weapons of Odin and all the others they had slain around them, they had set sail with the ship and at mid sea had set it on fire. The remains of the army had been left where they were, exposed to the elements and the wild beasts.

When they turned to the question why they were alive again, Aurora and Gabrielle explained how the four children had apparently been chosen by magic, to be able to take their forms. Regrettably this also meant that they would return to the afterlife when the Blood-moon waned.

The valkyries also spoke with Aurora and Gabrielle but they were not as familiar with the Angels as Ragnarok had been.

All too soon the first rays of dawn could be seen appearing over the mountains and the power of the Blood-moon failed, letting the spirits of Ragnarok and his sisters be pulled back to the afterlife.

Now that they had finally been able to say a proper goodbye to their old friend, Aurora and Gabrielle were finally able to close that part of their history.

When the first rays of morning touched them, the four kids turned back to their human form. To the surprise of Aurora and Gabrielle, the white robes the kids had worn were still intact, indicating that their transformation had gone much easier than normal.

When the kids woke up, they were groggy and had a splitting headache. Harry was covered in thin red scratches were the werewolf's claws had torn at him.

"Oh my head," groaned Ginny.

Hermione didn't say anything but just sat with her head in her hands and groaned softly.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" asked Fleur.

"What the bloody hell did I do last night?" asked Harry whilst looking at all the thin red lines on his body.

Aurora and Gabrielle couldn't contain their amusement at the reactions of the kids and Aurora asked with a chuckle, "How much can you remember from last night?"

Hermione got her head out of her hands and replied, "I remember the ritual up until the dome formed around us, but after that, nothing."

The other three nodded in agreement with the statement.

Gabrielle told the kids to sit down in a half circle and she and Aurora put one hand on the head of each of the kids and poured their memories of the last night into them.

When they removed their hands, the kids put their own hands to their heads as the stream of memories had only increased their splitting headaches.

Aurora and Gabrielle gave them an apologetic smile and Gabrielle said, "I know kids, increased healing does nothing against a headache. Let's get back to the tents and get you some anti-headache potions."

They all stood up and Aurora and Gabrielle led the kids back to the tents, where Sirius, Remus and Dora where having breakfast. While the kids went to change out of the white robes they were still wearing, Aurora and Gabrielle joined the others for breakfast at the table.

Remus and Dora were sharing a chair and feeding each other from the same plate. Sirius was holding the mirror in his hand and according to what they could hear, he was speaking with Ilona.

"Everything is fine love. Please don't worry about us, everyone is unharmed and some of us are even better that when we left."

"What do you mean Sirius, better than when you left?"

Sirius turned the mirror towards Remus and Dora and said, "You want to inform my lovely wife of your good news Remus?"

Remus grinned at Dora and said, "You tell her love."

Dora nodded and beamed, "Remus asked me to marry him, and I said yes."

"Oh that's wonderful," said Ilona with a big grin but added, "but Remus if you two have children, won't they be affected by your lycanthropy as well?"

Remus smiled and said, "No they won't because I'm not a werewolf anymore."

They could see Ilona's eyes go wide and she gasped, "How is that possible? I thought there wasn't a cure for lycanthropy?"

Gabrielle turned the mirror towards her and said, "There is only one cure, but until last night it hadn't been available since the 11th century. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny have been given one of the most powerful animagus forms possible, a Fenrir."

Ilona's mouth fell open and she gasped, "But... but... I thought those were extinct, if they had ever been more than just legends."

Aurora laughed softly and replied, "No Ilona, they were never just legends. They were very real once and their leader, whose form Harry has been blessed with, was a great friend of ours and his name was Ragnarok."

"The bringer of the end times," whispered Ilona when she heard that name.

"Not quite," corrected Gabrielle her, "His death issued in the end of the great Norse mythology, but not that of the whole world."

Ilona looked a little surprised to hear that but only said, "What will you and Aurora do now, will you come back to the manor or are you planning on staying with them?"

"That depends, responded Aurora, "how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, it's just... Ahhhh." Ilona's reply was cut short by a moan and her face turned into a pained grimace.

"What's wrong," cried Sirius and snatched the mirror from Gabrielle's hands.

"Nothing is wrong sweetie the little one is just kicking is all."

From the background they could hear the voice of Emma who said, "Don't lie to them, you have been having contractions for the past two hours."

"WHAT!" Yelled Sirius into the mirror. "I told you to tell me the moment it started, I'm coming right now. KREACHER."

The old elf appeared with a POP and bowed for Sirius, "Master called for Kreacher?"

"Yes Kreacher, good to see you, take me to Ilona right now."

Kreacher bowed and grabbed Sirius's outstretched hand, before both vanished with a POP.

From the mirror, which Sirius had thrown onto the table, they could hear Sirius entering the kitchen and saying good morning to Emma and Dan. He marched over to his wife, picked her up bridal-style and carried her under protest towards the room she had been staying in.

"Kreacher, please get Healer McKenna from Avalon, she has agreed to help when the time came." Kreacher bowed and left with a pop.

Aurora picked up the mirror and said to Sirius and Ilona, "We are getting packed here and then we'll join you guys at the manor. It's useless to continue with Marauder boot camp, if one of the marauders is not present."

Sirius didn't really listen, as he was too occupied with making sure Ilona was comfortable, to pay any attention to anything else. Ilona nodded and said, "See you guys in a bit then."

Aurora closed the mirror, just as the kids left their tent. They were now dressed in simple shorts and t-shirts, as it promised to be warm day.

"Ehh mom," said Harry as he and the girls looked around the table, "where did Sirius go?"

Gabrielle turned to the kids and answered with a smile, "James is about to get a little brother or sister, so Sirius went home. As will we when breakfast is over."

Harry smiled and the girls were all excited. "The baby is coming," squealed Fleur, while Hermione and Ginny were nearly dancing on the spot with excitement.

Gabrielle nodded and said, "Yes, Ilona started having contractions two hours ago, so it might take a while yet, but the baby is coming."

The group quickly devoured their breakfast before they started packing. Remus and Dora packed the tents with magic, while Gabrielle and the kids were packing everything into their backpacks.

When they were done, they realised Aurora had snuck off to parts unknown. Gabrielle closed her eyes and saw where Aurora was, "Don't worry kids, she'll be here soon, she is picking up our last passenger."

They all looked confused at this, but a few moments later they saw Aurora approaching with Ivan behind her.

When Harry was about to ask why Ivan was coming with them, and the others were looking confused, the giant Russian said, "What are you all looking at, I do not want to miss the birth of my second grandchild."

The kids blushed a little as they had almost forgotten that Ilona was Ivan's daughter.

Gabrielle took a piece of rope from a pouch on her belt and handed it to the others. When they all held it, she said, "Home," and they all vanished.

They landed in the entrance hall of Potter Manor and because of the large backpacks, they didn't all land on their feet this time. Only Aurora, Gabrielle and Remus managed to stay upright, the others were floored the moment they landed.

When everyone was helped back on their feet, Gabrielle led them all towards the kitchen and pointed Ivan towards the room where Ilona and Sirius were. Ivan quickly headed into that direction to check up on his daughter and son-in-law.

When the group entered the kitchen, they saw Emma was trying to feed James, while Dan was reading the Daily Prophet.

On the front page of the Prophet, they saw a large black and white picture of the moon and beneath it the title of the article; _A Blood-moon has risen, will dark times follow?_

Aurora couldn't suppress a small chuckle when she saw the headline and pointed it out to the kids. "Look guys, your little adventure from last night made the headlines."

Dan looked a little confused and closed the paper to take a second look at the headline. "I can't see anything about the kids on the front-page, what did you mean exactly?"

"I mean the moon, Dan. The animagus forms of the kids are what caused the Blood-moon."

Dan looked confused between the paper in his hands, and the smug looks of Aurora, Gabrielle and the kids. "What... what do you mean their forms are what caused the Blood-moon?"

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny stepped forward with a mischievous grins and wanted to give Dan the scare of his life... but nothing happened.

Aurora and Gabrielle had immediately realised what the kids were attempting to do, but at the looks of the quartet, they burst out laughing and Gabrielle laughed, "You guys didn't think it would be that easy now did you?"

The kids looked a little disappointed to hear this and Aurora said, "Until you learn to fully control your emotions, you'll only change when you lose control. So what we are going to be doing for the rest of this week is training you in controlling your emotions and, by extension, control your transformations."

The kids nodded but with a wicked grin Aurora added, "However, if you want to show Dan we'll have to go to the pool."

The kids nodded enthusiastically and Harry and Hermione dragged Dan behind them to the pool room.

When they were all standing in the warm sand besides the water, Gabrielle asked, "Okay kids, do you remember what we did with you and Fleur when we were at the hospital and we took away her wound for a few seconds?"

The kids nodded again and Gabrielle continued, "This works similar, we can 'connect' with you for lack of a better word, and bring out your true form, or in this case your animal form. It lasts only as long as we touch you, but it allows you to show Dan your true form."

Aurora and Gabrielle took a place between the kids and put one of their hands on the shoulder of each of the kids. Closing their eyes, they concentrated on bringing out the kids animal forms and when they felt soft fur beneath their hands, they opened their eyes to look at a completely perplexed Dan.

The quartet had changed into their Fenrir forms and Dan was looking wide eyed at them. "Wow," was the only thing Dan managed to say, before Aurora and Gabrielle lifted their hands and the kids had their human forms again.

"Okay," began Dan when he had sat down in the warm sand and the others had sat down as well. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. I didn't know wolves could get that big."

"We're not wolves, dad." Said Hermione with a small grin, "They're called Fenrirs and are creatures from old Norse mythology."

"You don't say," said Dan a little weakly. "I just hope you guys don't rip someone to pieces when you are in wolf-form."

"We'll try not to Dan," Harry said with a small smile, "not unless they really deserve it."

The identical looks on the trio of girls caused Dan to shake his head softly and mutter, "I knew this was a bad idea, as if you four needed another way to kill someone with your bare hands."

The kids just rolled their eyes and Gabrielle grinned while Aurora said smugly, "If I recall correctly Dan they still have a few dozen to go before they can match your kill-list."

"Just fourteen," Dan objected. "I don't count creatures. Besides, you two have been training them so they'll catch up soon enough."

"True," Gabrielle grinned, but added more seriously, "however we are hoping it'll be a few years still until they have to begin."

At that moment Daisy popped into the room and said, "Mister Sirius has asked me to tell you that the baby is coming, they can already see the head."

The group of humans thanked Daisy and quickly made their way towards the room where Ilona was giving birth. When they arrived they could hear Ilona swearing and Sirius trying to calm her down. Ivan was walking back and forth before the room and seamed immensely worried.

"What's wrong Ivan?" asked Gabrielle when they arrived. "Why aren't you inside with Ilona and Sirius?"

Ivan looked at them with fear in his eyes and said softly, "I panicked when I heard her scream and the healer threw me out. I don't know if you know this, but Ilona's mother died in childbirth, along with her little brother."

Dan and the four children looked shocked to hear this but Aurora looked very serious, while Gabrielle placed a soft hand on Ivan's shoulder and forced him to look at her.

"Listen to me Ivan, Ilona will be fine. Healer McKenna is one of the best in Britain. We knew that you lost Natasha and Boris," Ivan cringed at hearing those names and tears were rolling over his hardened face when Gabrielle continued.

"It is time to move on Ivan. Ilona has told us much about them, and I know that Natasha would want you to move on. There is not a force in the world not even ours, that can bring back the dead, so it is time to move on. They are at peace Ivan, and it is time for you to be at peace as well."

At that moment, they heard a sound from inside the room. A sound that was so recognisable and hope-giving, that the tears on Ivan's face dried up and there came a light in his eyes. Inside the room, a baby was crying.

The giant Russian turned around, just as the door opened and a smiling Sirius stood in the entrance. Like with Ivan, Sirius his eyes were shining with an inner light as he said, "Hey grandpa, it's time to meet your granddaughter."

Ivan rushed past Sirius and into the room, to find Ilona laying in the large bed with a small bundle wrapped in a pink blanket lying in her arms.

The small bundle was softly crying and squirming in her mother's arms, while Healer McKenna stood on the other side of the bed and was muttering soft diagnostic charms on mother and daughter.

When the group entered the room, Emma came running into the hallway, chasing behind James who was running towards the room with his parents and the little baby.

Sirius caught his son before the boy could jump on the bed and said to him, "Careful James. We don't want to land on mommy and the baby now do we?"

James shook his head with small blushes on his cheeks and said, "No daddy." Sirius grinned at his son and putting him down led him towards the bed, where Ivan was already dotting over his daughter and granddaughter.

Sirius waved his wand and a chair appeared next to the bed. He pushed Ivan into the chair and carefully taking his daughter from his wife's arms, he handed her to the proud grandfather.

James was softly stroking the small wisp of bright red hair on his sister's head and asked his father, "What is her name dad?"

Ilona looked at Sirius with a questioning look and when he gave her an encouraging smile she said both to her son and to her father, "We are naming her after my mother, Natasha."

Ivan looked up from the little bundle in his arms and with tears of joy running over his cheeks he whispered, "Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: this chapter contains my first attempt at writing a lemon. If you don't want to read this, I have marked the beginning and end so you can just skip it and not miss anything.

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 7

The newest addition to the Ancient House of Black and her brother, were quickly in danger of getting spoiled rotten by their doting grandfather. Ivan had taken up all of his free days of the past decade, and spent the rest of the summer at Black Manor, playing with his grandchildren and talking with Ilona and Sirius.

In the meantime, the week progressed at Potter Manor as Aurora and Gabrielle were teaching the kids how to control their anger in a rather unorthodox, but very effective way. They would try to drive the kids to the edge, and the kids would have to stop themselves from reaching that point and instead reach a state of mind which Gabrielle called, inner peace, where they would no longer care about the things that were said.

Needless to say, progress was slow. More than a few times a day, Aurora and Gabrielle stood face to face with a furious Fenrir. To the surprise of the kids though, when they changed, they were barely half the size they had been when Ragnarok and the Valkyries took over their bodies, or when they showed Dan their forms.

When they asked the adults about this on Sunday, Aurora explained to the kids. "You are not yet fully grown, so neither are you animagus forms. As your human bodies grow, so will they. Just have a little patience and in a few years, you'll be the proper size."

When Hermione asked when that would be Gabrielle answered with a little shrug, "I'm not sure but if your current rate of growth continuous, you'll be fully grown around the start of your fourth year."

Aurora nodded and added with a little grin, "However you must not forget that you are already larger than any normal wolf, seeing as how you could easily pass for a nice pony in height."

Harry was the current object of their 'training' when Aurora said that and being already on edge he only managed to say, "Oi I am not a bloody pony," before he changed and his Fenrir form launched itself at Aurora's throat.

Aurora didn't even flinch, when she caught the black Fenrir by his throat and slammed him down on his back, shocking Harry back into his human form.

She stretched out her hand and helped her son back on his feet while the girls smirked behind his back. The three of them had been able to hold out against Aurora and Gabrielle's teasing for two days now, but Harry was still having problems.

Now that the girls were able to shift into their Fenrir form with ease, they used this as an incentive for Harry to reach the same level.

Harry softly rubbed his bum while he joined the girls and muttered, "Do you really have to throw me down on my ass every time I snap?"

The girls really burst out laughing at this and Harry turned a red in embarrassment, while Gabrielle said on a mock stern tone, "Now girls, that's not very nice of you. Perhaps you three should take your pour husband upstairs and start packing your bags. You'll be leaving for the Burrow first thing tomorrow morning.

The three girls shared a mischievous look between them and as one threw themselves at Harry. Taking him completely by surprise, they dragged him to the ground and before he could stand up, they held him by the arms and dragged him out of the gym, towards the nearest elevator.

Aurora and Gabrielle looked at their antics with a smile and Gabrielle said softly to her partner, "Do you remember how we were at that age?"

Aurora got a soft remembering smile on her face and whispered back, "I do love. It was around their age that I realized I was madly in love with you."

"So not much has changed in the past fourteen-hundred years, or has it?"

Aurora grinned and grabbing a hold of her wife, she gave her a passionate kiss while sneakily working her hands underneath Gabrielle's shirt. Gabrielle felt her hands roaming over her bare back and softly groaned in pleasure while intensifying the kiss.

Chuckling softly under the kiss, Aurora focused their combined power and they flamed to a different room in the manor.

When they reappeared in flames, Gabrielle had only a split second to realize where they were, and she let out a yelp before they fell in the warm waters of the lake room.

Not really bothered by being under water, being able to hold their breath for over ten minutes certainly helped, the two ancient lovers continued their kiss under water, until a lack of breath forced them to swim above the surface again.

Never breaking their kiss, they slowly undressed each other, tearing open their shirts in favor of breaking their kiss to take them off.

Unbeknownst to them, an invisible hand summoned all of their clothes to shore and mended them, before drying and folding them. Poppy smiled softly while she placed the two piles of clothing on a lounge chair and placed two large white towels besides them. It had been to long since the two women had had some alone time in peace.

XXX-Beginning of Lemon-XXX

In the water Aurora and Gabrielle were completely unaware of the invisible company and continued to only pay attention to each other.

Aurora dived under water and slowly kissed her way down to her partner's left breast. Biting down on the nipple she flicked the silver piercing with her tongue and Gabrielle shivered in pleasure.

Leaving a parting kiss on the nipple she replaced her mouth with her left hand while moving to the other nipple. Biting down hard on the stiff nipple and pulling on the ring with her tongue, she could hear Gabrielle moan in pleasure above the surface while her right hand slowly made its way downwards.

When her right hand reached Gabrielle's center, her partner let out another groan while she felt Aurora's fingers feel their way inside her.

To Gabrielle the feeling was incomparable just as it had been the countless times before, Gabrielle melted like wax and when Aurora's thumb brushed past the small silver ring in her clit, she moaned loudly. The incredible sensitivity of that little nub made her shiver in pleasure.

Aurora kissed her way further down and placed the last kiss directly on Gabrielle's clit. She kept touching her in just the right place and when her tongue next brushed past the clit piercing Gabrielle exploded in orgasm.

After ten minutes and several orgasms later, Aurora was out of breath and kissed her way upwards again.

When Aurora resurfaced, Gabrielle caught her lips in a world-shattering kiss and the couple softly swam towards the shore, where the silver-haired Angel pushed her partner on her back.

"I love you so much." Groaned Gabrielle while she was kneading Aurora's breasts and pulled on her nipple piercings.

Aurora could only moan in response while Gabrielle repaid the favor by diving between Aurora's legs and licking the small tattoo that was placed on Aurora's mound, two inches above the black ring in Aurora's clit. It was a simple red heart with two stylized letters; _G A_ , in bright sapphire ink. Gabrielle had the same tattoo in opposing colors on the same place with the letters _A G_.

Moving down from the tattoo, Gabrielle licked her way towards Aurora's centre. She pulled softly on the black ring with her tongue, before she plunged it into her centre, making Aurora moan loudly underneath her. Still kneading her lover's breasts, Gabrielle pulled the black rings in Aurora's nipples and the stinging pain only increased the pleasure they were feeling.

Through their bond Gabrielle felt everything Aurora felt and it made it so much easier to have amazing sex together if you know exactly what your partner feels.

Gabrielle increased the tempo of her licking and soon Aurora was panting closer and closer to a heavenly orgasm. Gabrielle decided to up the tempo and removed her right hand from Aurora's breast, only to push two fingers swiftly inside her center.

"OH MY GOD. MOM!"

XXX-End of Lemon-XXX

Gabrielle shot up from between Aurora's legs and both scrambled towards the nearby lounge chair and pulled the large towels around them.

When they were more or less decently covered, Aurora and Gabrielle looked up with identical bright red faces. Harry and the girls were standing in the doorway, less than 15 feet away from them and they were all dressed in their swimwear.

The four kids looked absolutely shocked and the expression on their faces screamed, 'WHAT THE FUCK.' Apparently they had decided to take advantage of the Lakeroom when they still could but hadn't expected to see them in this position.

"Eh hi… hi kids. Wha… what are you doing he… here?" Aurora was struggling to form a whole sentence, to shocked to really notice what was going on.

The four kids still stood there with their mouths gaping until Fleur said weakly, "Now I know what you meant Harry, it totally creeps me out to think of them in this way. I am so gone need a memory spell for this."

The other three nodded weakly and slowly walked backwards towards the door and exited the Lakeroom.

When the door closed behind them Harry turned towards the girls and said, "Shall we agree never to mention this again?"

The other three nodded and Hermione said softly, "Yes please. That was just wrong on so many levels."

Fleur and Ginny shivered a little, despite the pleasant temperature in the hallway, and they made their way towards the nearest elevator to return to their room. They no longer had any desire to swim in the lake.

Aurora and Gabrielle quickly dried off and dressed again, before making their way over to the kitchen to find Emma and Dan sitting at the table playing a game of Yahtzee.

When they heard the two women enter, Emma looked up and seeing their bright red faces she asked, "What happened to you two?"

Aurora took two pint-sized bottles of neon-green Absinthe from the fridge and handed one to Gabrielle. The two sat down at the table and unscrewing the bottles, they emptied them in one large gulp.

Dan and Emma looked flabbergasted, as this was not the typical stuff you buy at the local liquor store. Aurora bought the bottles through a friend in Switzerland and instead of 50% these where 85% alcohol.

Aurora and Gabrielle shivered after they finished the bottles and put them down on the table with a bang. Gabrielle looked up at Emma and said with a still red face, "We were in the Lakeroom, when the kids came in and they caught us doing some adult stuff. Needless to say they were a bit surprised."

Dan and Emma shared a look until they both started laughing at the same time and Dan pulled out his wallet. Taking 20 Galleons from it, he handed them to Emma, before putting it away again.

Emma put them away with a big grin and said to a surprised looking Aurora and Gabrielle, "We had a pool running of when the kids would barge in on you two. I guessed during this summer, and I'm getting twenty Galleons each from, Ivan, Sirius, Ilona, Remus, Dora and Minerva."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked at them through a slight daze, inflicted by the Absinthe, and Aurora managed to say, "Wait, you guys bet about it?"

Dan nodded and Emma grinned while she said, "Yes we did. According to those five," she pointed towards the kitchen block where the elves were working on dinner, "You two have a habit of doing it wherever you are when the urge hits you. So we knew it was only a matter of time."

Aurora and Gabrielle set their heads down on the table and groaned as they felt their enhanced healing kick in and start to reduce the pleasant feeling of the alcohol at a very rapid rate.

"I am so not looking forward to having 'The Talk', with those four. I remember when my dad tried to explain it to us when we were seventeen." Aurora shivered before she continued, "My dad was a great guy, but he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. Though to his defense, he didn't know we were both into girls and the whole boy/girl stuff was kind of freaking us out."

Gabrielle likewise felt the shivers running down her spine while she added, "Trust me, medieval sex ed is not something you endure voluntarily. They had a rather conservative opinion about it and those idiots from Rome had a, 'if it feels good, don't do it more than absolutely necessary, as it is bad', kind of attitude."

Dan and Emma were still grinning and Dan said grinning, "You two want Emma and me to do it for you?"

Aurora and Gabrielle looked up with hope and relief in their eyes and said as one, "O thank Merlin please yes."

At Emma and Dan's amused looks Aurora continued, "We wouldn't even know where to begin with those four. All we have is our own experience and we do not want them to try out most of the things we do, not yet at least."

Dan slightly raised his eyebrows at this and asked with a grin, "And exactly what kind of things are those?"

Gabrielle and Emma shook their heads but Aurora managed a small smirk and replied, "Well let me put it this way, the Vatican excommunicated us for a reason."

"WHAT?" exclaimed Dan and Emma at the same time.

"What do you mean excommunicated?" asked Emma.

"Only for a few years," replied Gabrielle, "It was quickly reverted after we saved Transylvania from a massive vampire civil-war."

Dan and Emma looked between each other and Aurora and Gabrielle and finally Dan said with a small grin, "Okay tell you what, we have 'The Talk' with the kids, if you guys take us to Transylvania. I have always wanted to visit the castle of Vlad the Impaler."

Aurora and Gabrielle fell silent at that, turned very serious and said as one, "No you don't."

Dan was shocked by this sudden turn of the mood and asked softly, "You mean he is real?" When they nodded he said carefully, "You want to tell what happened?"

Gabrielle stood up to get a new round of drinks, coffee this time, while Aurora began her tale. "It started in 1462 when Count Vlad the Impaler was dying. So scared of death, he made a deal with an old vampire clan. If they would turn him, he would grant them dominion over his lands and extensive feeding grounds.

The vampires accepted, but soon after he was turned, Vlad used his new gift to turn his own army. He led them on a brutal campaign that eradicated or subjugated all other vampire clans in Eastern Europe. Eventually establishing himself as the sole ruler of the vampire clans. Now the sole ruler he named himself King Vladislaus Dracula. When his numbers had grown to the point that they could no longer feed in the shadows, he began to enslave the muggle population, while the magical population stood by and did nothing.

The Legion was sent in to stop them. We received help from the Vatican to eradicate them and in turn they would cancel our excommunication. The Pope called a secret crusade amongst the nobles and many sent their sons with soldiers. Our strongest ally was the King of Hungary, Alexander Corvinus, who volunteered himself, his two sons Marcus and John, and his entire army of twenty-thousand men. The army gathered at Budapest and from there we marched on Vlad's seat of power, Poenari Castle. Before we reached the castle though, the army was ambushed. The muggle nobles and the Hungarian soldiers took the brunt of the ambush, suffering moderate casualties, but it allowed us to organize the Legion and we swiftly fought them off. Our losses proved to be manageable, but morale amongst the nobles was low. The vampires had suffered heavy losses though and for a few days, we were left alone to recover.

In the meantime, Vlad had enslaved several dark wizards and they created a thunderstorm, covering the sun and allowing his army to march during the day. However, this time they did not catch us by surprise. We were ready for them and after several days, we fought him to a bloody stalemate. Losses were innumerable on both sides and our allies were desperate for a truce. Vlad had the same idea and soon after he sent envoys to negotiate with us. He would pull his forces back and from that moment on, they would only feed on the healthy and taking just what they needed to survive, ensuring the humans lived and no casualties would fall. In return we would let them live in peace. This pact was sealed in blood and would last till the end of times and could not be broken unless both sides deliberately broke the agreement. To this day, King Vladislaus remains the only one who has managed to fight the Legion to a standstill."

When she finished her tale, Emma looked shocked and Dan asked carefully, "How many did you lose?"

Aurora shook her head slowly and took a long drink of her coffee, while Gabrielle answered. "We lost five-hundred-and-eighty-three Legionnaires in that war and nearly twenty-one-thousand of our muggle allies. Vladislaus refused to give us a number but we estimate more than thirty-thousand dead vampires. In the end both sides lost more than 9 out of every 10 soldiers that fought on the field. Vlad has kept his word, but not all of the lesser clans have. Those that resisted Vlad's rule still kill people and in turn they are hunted down by Vlad's enforcers, but luckily the truce still stands."

Dan and Emma led this sink in until Emma said, "So the legend of Dracula is true."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and the four adults continued to drink their coffee in silence.

Meanwhile the quartet had returned to their room and as they had agreed no one mentioned the thing they had just seen in the poolroom and they focused on other matters.

At the moment they were discussing what they were going to do with Harry's lack of control over his transformation. Seeing as the girls where now all three able to turn at will, they decided that they really needed to find a way to let Harry achieve the same.

It was Fleur who got the idea of using a reward based method. If he managed to reach inner peace, they would all take a shower together.

The girls where not very surprised when Harry finally managed to reach inner peace less than an hour later.

Fleur got a wicked grin when Harry succeeded and she said, "Very good Harry. Now I think it's time for your reward, isn't it?"

Harry perked up at this and hurried over to the bathroom, while the girls went in to the wardrobe one by one to change.

When the girls entered the bathroom they were all wearing their bathrobes and Harry was waiting for them in his boxer shorts. When the girls stood before Harry, Fleur counted to three and on three they each dropped their bathrobe.

Underneath the girls wore the red and gold bikini's they had bought the previous week and when the girls saw the slight disappointment in Harry's eyes, Ginny said with a cheeky grin, "Remember Harry, Fleur said we would shower together, she did not say we would be naked."

Harry still looked a little downcast but Hermione stepped forward and she gave him a passionate kiss before saying, "Don't worry Harry, even if we are still dressed we can have fun together.

Harry looked up at this and noticing the mischievous grins of all three girls, he quickly headed to the wardrobe to put on his own swim shorts.

The following shower was one of the longest, and defiantly the most enjoyable any of the kids had ever had. They didn't do more than kissing and cuddling under the warm water, but it still was very satisfying.

After nearly an hour and a half under the warm water, there came a knock on the door before it opened a little and they could hear Emma's voice, "Is everything all right kids? You have been in here for a while."

"We're fine mom, you can come in, we're all sort of dressed." When Emma heard her daughter say this she opened the door fully and saw the quartet sitting on floor of the large shower. Fleur and Harry were sitting side-by-side against the wall. Hermione sat between Harry's legs and leant against his chest with her head on his left shoulder. Ginny was in a similar position between Fleur's legs and her head on Fleur's right shower, touching Hermione's.

The various showerheads enabled the kids to point the water exactly where they wanted it and it came in the shape of a small waterfall, flowing over Harry and Fleur's shoulders, and onto those of Hermione and Ginny.

When she saw the kids looking so peaceful and content, Emma couldn't contain a soft, "Aww," _'They look so happy'_ she thought to herself and to the kids she added, "Dinner is nearly ready. If you guys are done here and come to the kitchen, then we can eat when you arrive."

"Okay mom," said Hermione.

"Okay Emma," said the other three. And Emma closed the door behind her again.

Harry placed a soft kiss on Hermione's exposed neck and she hummed contently when he did so, giving Fleur the idea to do the same with Ginny, who reacted the same way as Hermione.

After a few minutes of exchanging tender kisses between them, the kids reluctantly stood up and Harry shut off the showerheads. They all took one of the soft white towels and dried themselves off, before they made their way to the wardrobe, one-by-one, to get changed.

They all chose simple shorts and t-shirts and soon they left their room to head downstairs for dinner.

When they arrived in the kitchen they saw that the elves had prepared a delicious smelling dinner. On the table stood a large plate with four whole roasted chickens on it, a large pan with mashed potatoes, a bowl with steamed carrots and a large gravy boat with onion gravy.

The kids quickly took their usual places at the table and Aurora placed a half chicken on each of their plates, after which the kids added mashed potatoes and carrots themselves. They each poured a generous amount of gravy over their dinner and kept pouring until the boat was empty.

When Gabrielle received the boat from Ginny, she tried to pour some on her own plate, but when nothing came out she lifted the lid off the boat and scowled, "Seriously kids, was it too much to ask to leave a little gravy for the rest of us."

The four kids got identical apologetic smile until Charles said, "Do not worry Mistress, we always make extra gravy as we knows that they all like it." Charles then snapped his fingers and the gravy boat filled itself with thick light-brown gravy.

During dinner the kids speculated about what they would be doing when they were at The Burrow and at that moment Aurora interrupted them, "O before I forget kids. Ginny, your brothers do not know about you and the others being officially married, nor of your engagement contract, or about the bride-price. Your father asked me, to ask you not to mention it to them, as they wanted to make it a surprise for your brothers. The house they picked has been completely redecorated and refurnished. The contractor who did the work, finished last week, so you are probably moving in sometime this week."

"Sweet," Ginny's grin was contagious when she said this, as Harry, Hermione and Fleur were soon grinning as well.

"Just remember kids," Gabrielle said on a slightly stern tone, "if you are going to practice with your animagus forms, don't do it anywhere where you can be seen. As you are still illegal, we are working on registering you with the ICW, as we do not want the Ministry to find out that you are animagi."

The four kids nodded and Harry said with a little grin, "Now that you mention it mom." And without saying anything else, he stood up from the table and changed into his Fenrir form.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Dan looked approvingly while Emma was amazed by the size of the black wolf. "Trust me," Aurora said to Emma, who had not yet seen any of the kids in Fenrir form, "they will get roughly twice this size when they are fully grown."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "Very good Harry, but please change back if you would since we are still eating dinner." She indicated Harry's half-eaten plate and he quickly changed back before retaking his seat at the table.

After dinner Harry and the girls headed towards the game room to watch a movie, while the adults were discussing other matters.

"Do you have a date set to test those Magical Radiation Scanners, the sooner we can get them working the better."

Aurora nodded at Dan's question and replied, "We have, day after tomorrow we are going to get Snape from Hogwarts and bring him to London for the testing. Boltrock sent me a message last week to notify me that everything was ready for the test."

Dan nodded and said with a little excitement in his voice, "I don't know if you guys have already heard, but Anderson contacted me today and offered me the position of Colonel of the Third Regiment, Legion Marines."

Emma squealed with delight while she hugged her husband tightly, "Congratulations dear, you absolutely deserved it."

Aurora and Gabrielle didn't say anything but nodded approvingly, Anderson had informed them of his intention and they completely agreed with it.

Dan was finally released by Emma and he continued, "Anderson said that he thought me the best man for the job, as I was originally a member of the Royal Marines and am amongst those who have the most experience with naval-based infantry warfare."

Gabrielle smiled at him and Aurora said, "Anderson did indeed inform us about his intention to promote you but we decided to let him tell you. Besides, the fact that you are obviously the best man for the job..."

She stopped for a moment as Emma gave her husband a passionate kiss and whispered, "You can show me later why you are the best man for my job." At the knowing grins of Aurora and Gabrielle, Dan got a little red and pleaded with his eyes for Aurora to continue.

Aurora cleared her throat softly and Emma quickly released her husband so Aurora could continue.

"As I was saying, besides the fact that you are the best man for the job, we kind of allowed it for selfish reasons. We wanted to have someone who could think creatively and was not afraid to speak up against us. The only ones amongst the Legion who have the guts to go directly against either me or Gabrielle are, Anderson, Zhukovo, Ivan, and you."

When Dan looked a little confused Aurora explained, "In many ways the Legionnaires are the perfect soldiers. They are extremely skilled, strong, well disciplined and brave. The only thing most of them lack is initiative, our hope is that by having you in command of the Marines, you'll be able to give them that ability."

Now that she had explained it, Dan understood what Aurora had meant when she said he was the best man for the job. He himself had noticed on more than one occasion that there could be a bit more initiative from amongst the Legionnaires. They did everything they were asked and more, but it would be nice to have them invent their own tactics and discover what best suited them as individuals.

Gabrielle nodded softly as she saw Dan realize what Aurora meant and she said, "I hope you do realize that this position brings with it a lot more responsibilities. You will be required to accompany us when we go to inspect the V-22's and be present at any of the upper-echelon meetings."

Dan nodded and replied, "I know, Anderson already told me. Actually I'm quite looking forward to going, as I have some small idea's that could work very well with those V-22's."

"Well I'm eager to hear them, but I think it should wait till we actually get there."

Dan nodded and moved on to another subject. "Do you think the kids will be able to act normal around the Weasleys, as Ginny's brothers don't know about their sleeping arrangements?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shrugged and Aurora replied, "I guess we'll find out eventually. Molly has sent an owl and she said that they could all use Ginny's room when they were at The Burrow. She has enlarged her bed so they would all fit and installed a locking charm to prevent any of the boys from entering their room unannounced. She'll be putting an air mattress in the room to create the idea that Harry would sleep on it while the girls shared the bed."

Dan and Emma nodded and Emma said, "I hope they have a good time there. It would be good for them to live with other people for a few weeks."

Now Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Aurora said with a sigh, "I just hope that neither Arthur nor Molly gets the bright idea to go and visit Charlie at the dragon sanctuary in Transylvania."

Gabrielle, Dan and Emma nodded and said as one, "Indeed."

Author's note:

I hope no one was freaked out by my attempt at writing a lemon.  
Please let me know what you thought of it, so I know what to do different or the same next time.

I really love hearing from you so please review.

Till next time.

Medieval Maniak


	8. Chapter 8

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 8

The next morning Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were woken up at 08:30 by Emma. She knocked on their door before opening it and looking inside. Harry and Fleur were laying in the middle with Hermione next to Harry and Ginny next to Fleur.

Fleur was laying with her head on Harry's chest and she herself was being hugged by Ginny who had her head buried deep into Fleur's thick silver-blond hair. Hermione had also put her head on Harry's chest and she and Fleur were moving each other's hair with every breath they exhaled.

"Wake up kids," Emma said to the sleeping kids.

The only response she got was a grumbled, "Five more minutes," from Hermione.

Emma sighed and said on a threatening tone, "Don't make me get Daisy and her water buckets."

This time the reply was that Hermione threw her pillow at her mother, but missed by more than 5 feet, and the kids grumbled while they sat upright and stretched themselves out.

"I am expecting you four at breakfast in half an hour, so hurry up."

"Yes mom," replied Hermione.

"Yes Emma," said Harry, Fleur and Ginny.

Emma closed the door again and headed back to the kitchen.

When they were all out of bed, Harry was the first to enter the bathroom, while the girls began packing their trunks. As they would be going directly from The Burrow to France, it was easier to pack their trunks as they could just shrink them and put them in their pockets.

When they were all done, they shrunk their trunks, put them in their pockets, and headed towards the kitchen where Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Emma were waiting for them.

When the kids sat down at the table, Gabrielle handed Harry a small package wrapped in brown paper. "Here, this is one of those talking mirrors Sirius uses. This one is linked to only one other, which we will keep with us at all times. If you need to speak with us, or just want to talk, speak either of our names and we will hear your call."

Harry thankfully accepted the package and put it in the bottom-less pouch on his belt, which all four had been given one by Boltrock last Christmas. "Thanks mom," he said after putting it away, "It's nice to have a way to contact you if we want to."

Gabrielle gave her son a hug and they started on their breakfast.

After breakfast, Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Emma escorted the kids to the travel room and Gabrielle held out the box with Floo-powder. Ginny was the first to step forward and picked a handful of the sparkling green powder, she threw it into the fire and when the flames turned bright green, she said, "The Burrow," and stepped into the flames.

When Ginny was gone, Hermione was the next, followed by Fleur. When Harry went to step forward, he was stopped by Aurora who said, "Wait a moment Harry."

He looked to his mother and she answered his unasked question. "There is a chance that Arthur and Molly will take you to visit Charlie at the dragon preserve. We have sent him a message telling him of the dangers that could accompany such a visit, but I have my doubts about that owl of the Weasleys. If it does happen I want you to contact us _immediately_ , do you understand?"

Harry nodded and gave her a tight hug. "Don't worry mom, I'll look after _my_ girls."

Aurora smiled at his use of the word 'my' and ruffled his hair before pushing him towards the fire place. "Go on Harry, they're waiting for you."

Harry waved a last time to his mothers and Dan and Emma before he vanished in roaring green flames.

When Harry stopped spinning, he was thrown of balance and landed flat on his face, at the feet of Hermione, Fleur and Ginny, who he could all hear giggling. "Very elegant Harry," Observed Hermione as she helped him back on his feet.

Harry scratched himself behind his right ear and said apologetically, "Sorry girls, I lost my balance just before I was thrown out."

"You shouldn't let my brother see you like this Harry," Ginny said with a playful smile while she clapped his shirt to remove the ash that was on it. "It might destroy his image of you as a flawless heroic savior."

Harry rolled his eyes and murmured, "Yea because we don't want him to find out the truth now do we."

Ginny pulled him towards her and whispered, "No I don't think so, Mister Potter. The three of us don't want to share you with someone else." She gave him a passionate French kiss and only stopped when they heard a loud BANG.

They quickly released each other and looked around them to find the source of the noise.

Ron stood in the doorway with a look on his face that was both ecstatic and furious at the same time. He held a tray in his hands but the pile of plates that had been on it lay shattered at his feet.

"Hey Ron," Ginny said carefully while looking at the expression on her little brother's face, which was turning more to fury every second.

"HOW DARE YOU KISS HIM!" Ron yelled through the kitchen before he threw the tray at his sister and stormed towards Ginny screaming, "YOU KNEW HE WAS MY IDOL HOW COULD YOU BETRAY ME LIKE THAT?!"

Ginny caught his fists with ease and twisted him around until she held him between her arms with his hands on his back. "SHUT UP AND LISTEN." Ginny roared through Ron's screaming and her younger brother stopped yelling.

"Think for a moment Ron. Why the hell are you acting like this, do _you_ want to kiss Harry?"

Ron turned instantly beat red and muttered, "Now that you put it that way, no I don't."

Ginny sighed before releasing her brother and said, "Then please try to act normal okay. I know you have idolized Harry for half your life, but let me tell you a secret. He hates his fame and if you try to act like a normal kid and treat him like one, he might grow to like you and maybe you can be one of his friends."

Ron nodded to his sister and hurried out of the room, passing his parents in the doorway.

"Hello dears," Molly said while crushing them one-by-one in her notorious Molly-hugs. When she was done she turned to Ginny and asked, "What was Ron screaming about?"

Now it was Ginny's turn to get red and she said softly, "He saw me kiss Harry and he freaked out."

"Why would he freak out from a peck on the cheek?" Asked Molly a bit confused.

"No mom," Ginny replied, "he saw me _kissing_ him." She put an emphasis on the word 'kissing' and Molly's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, well that kind of complicates things as your brothers don't know about your sleeping-arrangements."

Ginny rolled her eyes at this and said to her mother, "Honestly mom, when are they going to find out, it has to be sooner or later as they will be asking questions when we are all four sleeping in my room."

At this point her father stepped into the conversation and said softly, so only the kids and Molly would hear him, "We wanted to tell them after we go and visit the new house tomorrow. We have told them we have a surprise for them and we would like to ask you four to play along. We are going to tell them that we have booked a holiday manor and see how they react to the house. We will tell them after a few days when they have settled in."

Harry, Hermione Fleur and Ginny all nodded and Harry said, "I'd be more than willing to play along Mister Weasley."

Arthur smiled at Harry and replied, "Just call me Arthur, Harry. After all, we are family are we not?"

Harry grinned a little and Arthur turned to Hermione and Fleur, "That goes for you as well girls, just call us Arthur and Molly, it's much easier that way."

Hermione and Fleur nodded and Arthur led the group towards the living room, which was deserted.

"Where are the others?" asked Ginny when she saw the lack of brothers in the usually crowded living room.

Arthur rolled his eyes and Molly said, "Well Bill and Charlie had a party last night and didn't get home till 5 AM. Percy is upstairs in his room, Fred and George are still asleep as well and Ron probably fled back to his room."

The kids nodded at this and Hermione asked, "Arthur, what are we going to tell the others when they ask about our sleeping arrangement?"

Arthur managed a grin and said, "As you four probably already know, as we sent an owl with the plan to Aurora and Gabrielle, you four will all use Ginny's bed and we have put an air mattress in the room to create the illusion that Harry will use it. We are trusting on your age to dispel any other idea's. If they do get suspicious, we'll see what we'll do when it comes to that."

The kids nodded and Ginny said, "Come on guys, I'll show you my room before we are ambushed by any of my brothers. You never know what Fred and George have planned now that Aurora and Gabrielle aren't here to keep them in check."

The others quickly nodded and they headed up the stairs to the first floor. When they arrived Ginny opened the door of her room and they saw a small, but cozy room. It was brightly colored and the walls were covered by posters of the Weird Sisters and the Holyhead Harpies.

They could see that the bed had obviously been expanded and it now occupied a full third of the room and was made up for four. There was a medium window on one side that offered a view of the orchard and the room further contained a wardrobe, a desk and an inflated air mattress made up for one person.

Ginny grinned a bit apologetic and said, "I know it isn't as big as our own rooms at Hogwarts or the manor but it feels good to be back here."

Harry and Hermione hugged Ginny while Fleur cuddled herself into Ginny's arms and said, "I like it, it is cozy and I bet the bed sleeps amazing with us four in it." The other two agreed and Ginny sighed happily before she released herself from their embrace and showed them where the bathroom was.

When they were more or less settled in, seeing as they were leaving again the next day, they made their way back downstairs to find Ginny's brothers all assembled in the kitchen and devouring some kind of breakfast.

Bill and Charlie stood up to give their sister a hug and shook hands with the other three, before they sat down at the table again. They were given suspicious looks by Fred and George, while Percy was reading the Daily Prophet and paid no attention to them at all.

Ron was sitting next to his mother and kept staring between Harry and the empty chair besides him. He was a little put out when instead of his idol, Fleur sat down next to him. Fleur looked at Ron and gave him one of her bewitching smiles causing the ten year old boy to literally drool while he stared at her.

Unbeknownst to Fleur, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and even Percy were also staring at her with a glazed over expression on their faces. Ginny, who was seated next to Fleur gave her a slight nudge and said, "Could you at least try to not deliberately use your allure on my brothers."

In a whisper she added, "It is also not fair to Hermione and me, as we are still working on getting ours to work properly."

Fleur blushed a little at that and quickly reigned in her allure, while she apologized to Arthur and Molly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to use my allure on them, it is still a little out of control at times."

The boys had come to themselves again and Bill shook his head while asking, "Ehh what the hell just happened?" while he asked that he stared interested at Fleur and added, "Wait, you're a Veela aren't you?"

Fleur nodded and replied, "I am yes, I'm sorry for what happened, but I'm still not fully in control of my allure."

Bill nodded understandingly and Fred, or George, said, "So that's why every boy in our year wants to kiss you."

At that the atmosphere in the kitchen dropped noticeably and Harry nearly growled, "I suggest you tell them that they had better stay away from her, unless they want to have a very nasty, and possibly fatal, accident."

The twins started to laugh sure he was joking, but stopped after a few minutes when no one laughed with them. "Wait you're serious?" asked one of them.

"No my uncle is Sirius but I do mean what I said, we have already beaten up five fifth years at Beauxbatons when they threatened Fleur, and we have no problem with having to do it again to someone from Hogwarts."

The twins swallowed at the same time and said as one, "We'll pass on the warning."

"Please do so," Hermione said.

Ginny added, "Make sure they understand that we are not bluffing."

The twins nodded and quickly returned to their bowls of oatmeal.

Arthur softly cleared his throat and when he ad everyone's attention he said, "We have already told you that we are looking for a new house." The kids all nodded and he continued, "We have so far not bought one, but I did manage to rent a house for the next week, so we are heading to the coast of Cornwall early tomorrow."

The Weasley boys were all cheering and Ron said, "Do we all have our own bedrooms? Because I don't mind having to share with Harry."

Ginny huffed and said, "Yea keep dreaming Ron. If he is sharing with anyone it'll be with Hermione, Fleur and me."

Ron gave his sister a look that screamed, 'shut up', and Molly quickly intervened to prevent a fight from breaking out. "There are plenty of rooms in the house so everyone can have their own, if they so wish. If someone decides to share, it is also fine and they can do as they wish."

Ginny nodded triumphantly and Ron accepted his mother's words with a resigned huff. It was useless to argue with his mother as he knew he would never win.

The rest of the day was spent flying in the orchard, all the Weasley kids played Quidditch, except for Percy who decided to return to his room and read. They played four on four, with one reserve and they switched brooms regularly, as Harry's was clearly the best.

When it was time for dinner, they all helped to set up two large tables and decked it for twelve people. Molly brought out the food and Harry, Hermione and Fleur were treated to their first taste of Molly's famous cooking. To their delight it was just as good as that of the elves at Potter Manor and Hogwarts.

After a delicious meal they all helped to clear the table and afterwards spread around with various activities. Harry and the girls had managed to get their hands of several decks of cards and were playing Switch.

Percy was in a discussion with his father about some article in the Prophet, while Molly was knitting a sweater. Bill and Charlie were exchanging stories of their respective jobs, and Fred and George were, very uncharacteristically, reading a book together and whispering softly.

After a while it began getting dark and Bill, helped by Charlie and his father, built a fire, the muggle way, and they all sat around it for a few more hours until it was time for bed.

When they all headed inside Ron asked, "Where will Harry be sleeping?"

Ginny, who was little fed-up by her little brother's constant whining, gave him a smack to the back of his head and said, "Well not with you anyway. So you can just go upstairs and we'll see you tomorrow."

When Ron was gone, Percy spoke up, "Ron is right though mother, where will Harry be sleeping. Hermione and Fleur will sleep with Ginny I assume but shall I prepare the air mattress for him in my room?"

Molly shook her head and said, "There is no need for that Percy, I have already placed the air mattress on Ginny's room. Harry can use it while the girls share Ginny's bed, they don't mind for a night."

At this Bill gave the quartet a curious look and seemed to be wondering about something. Percy just shrugged and headed to his own room after saying goodnight.

Fred and George though made some very suggestive comments about Harry sharing a room, with three cute girls. The result was that Molly took them each by an ear and had them apologize to the quartet, before she escorted them upstairs. Charlie likewise said good night and followed his mother and younger brothers.

When only Bill, Arthur and the quartet were left, Bill said suddenly, "I don't mean to pry or anything, but I think I know what is going on. Between what I saw at Christmas, and what you said today. You guys are part of a Blood-pact aren't you?"

The other five were all shocked to hear this and Harry asked a little shocked, "How did you know?"

Bill smiled wryly and answered, "The signs are there, you just have to know where to look for them. As a Curse-Breaker I have been trained to look for all kinds of signs."

The quartet nodded in understanding and Bill continued, "What happened to force you into this?"

Before Fleur could say it was all her fault, the other three interrupted her and Ginny said, "Just before the Christmas holiday began, we got a letter from Fleur's mother. It said that Fleur had been attacked at her school and that she was critically injured."

At this point Hermione took over and said, "We immediately left for the hospital where she was being treated and were met by Aurora and Gabrielle. We found out that Fleur had been attacked with Fiendfyre."

At this Bill gasped and said, "But that's un-survivable, there is no cure for Fiendfyre burns."

Harry nodded sadly and said, "You are partially correct Bill. There is no _known_ cure for Fiendfyre burns, but my mothers have the power to heal those wounds. When they attempted to use it on Fleur, her Veela magic fought back and so they had to weaken her Veela magic. The only way to do that is through a Blood-pact. So since then we share this bond and now we are all four part Veela, though Fleur is still the most affected by it. She has to consciously contain her allure around others, whereas Hermione and Ginny are still working on getting their allure to hold for more than a few seconds. I'm so far unaffected by it but there is no saying what will happen in the future."

Bill nodded understandingly and Arthur said, "You have to understand Bill that the others cannot know about this, your mother and I are under a binding oath of secrecy and I would ask that you do the same. If this news somehow reaches the wrong ears, it could be lethal for all of us."

Bill nodded again and drew his wand, holding it between his hands he put the tip on his forehead and said calmly, "I William Arthur Weasley, give my binding oath, never to reveal any of what I have just been told to others." There was a flash of light as magical law accepted Bill's oath and he lowered his wand.

"Thank you Bill," Harry said wholeheartedly and the girls did so as well.

Arthur looked at his watch and saw that is was nearing midnight, "You should all head to bed, we leave early tomorrow." They all said goodnight and went to their respective rooms.

When they got to Ginny's room, they took turns in the bathroom and when they were all done, they cuddled together under the blankets and quickly fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning Molly knocked on the door before opening it and peeking inside. Just like Emma had the day before, she paused a moment when she saw the four kids sleeping together. Ginny and Hermione were in the middle, while Harry had his arms around Ginny's waist and Fleur was cuddled into Hermione and all four were sleeping deeply.

Molly knocked a little louder on the door and Ginny and Harry began to stir, "It is time to get up kids. The others are already at breakfast, just put on a bathrobe and you can get dressed after breakfast." The kids grumbled a little but got out of bed none the less.

A few minutes later the four entered the kitchen with the girls sporting their familiar extreme cases of bed-hair. Fred and George had to laugh at seeing the girls with thick strands of hair standing in all directions but one look from Ginny shut them up immediately. Bill eyed them curiously while the others just focused on their breakfast.

"Good morning kids," said Arthur cheerfully when they sat down and Molly placed a plate with eggs, bacon, and sausages in front of each of them.

While they were focused on their breakfast, the Daily Prophet arrived and Arthur took it from the delivery owl. While he was reading it, Molly was scanning the adverts on the back and squealed when she said, "O look Ginny, Gilderoy Lockhart has finally finished his autobiography, and he is signing it in Diagon Alley in August. We have got to go there and meet him."

Harry, Hermione and Fleur looked at Ginny with their eyebrows raised and Ginny blushed a little before she said, "What, you guys can't deny that he is handsome and he has done a lot of amazing things. Besides, he is nearly as famous as you are Harry."

Harry groaned at that and muttered, "Come on Gin, you can't be serious. Of all people you should be amongst the ones who know how much I hate my fame."

Ginny gave him an apologetic smile which caused Harry and every other male at the table to roll their eyes and groan, "Girls."

When breakfast was over everyone made his or her way back to their rooms to get dressed and pack their things to go to their, 'holiday home'.

At eleven o'clock everyone was gathered in front of The Burrow and Arthur took a piece of rope from his pocket. At the raised eyebrows of Harry, he whispered to him, "Boltrock got this for me, it's a re-usable Goblin-made portkey, the same one as those your mothers use."

Harry grinned and said, "Thank Merlin for that, they are much more stable than the wizard-made kind."

Arthur patted him on the shoulder and said grinning, "Right you are Harry."

Arthur unrolled the piece of rope and everyone held onto it, before Arthur tapped it with his wand and whispered so no one could hear him, "Weasley Manor Cornwall."

The whole group got the familiar pull behind their navel and they vanished in a swirling motion.

The trip took only a few seconds and before they knew it they had stopped spinning and landed in front of a large gate. Miraculously everyone had managed to stay standing, and when they turned towards the gate, the Weasley kids and Harry, Hermione and Fleur said as one, "Wow."

Arthur and Molly grinned and Arthur said, "Welcome to our holiday home kids."

All the Weasley boys looked at Arthur as if they couldn't believe him and Percy said, "How much did you have to pay to rent this place for a week?"

Before either Arthur or Molly could respond, Harry decided to stoke the fire a little and said, "Not a single Knut. It is one of the houses my mom took from the Death Eaters last Christmas, and since it is currently unoccupied, she offered to let you use it for the time being."

The boys gaped at him and Arthur and Molly smiled at him, the two adults had realized what Harry was trying to do and they agreed, having them ask if their dad could buy the house made it so much more fun to tell them they already owned it.

"So if your mother took it from a Death Eater, than wouldn't it be full with dark objects?"

Harry shook his head at Percy's question and Hermione answered, "Aurora had it completely cleaned out and redecorated. It is not as big as Potter Manor, but it still has 15 bedrooms, an indoor and an outdoor pool, two living rooms, and 11 bathrooms. Also it sits on 120 acres of land, which holds a private Quidditch pitch," Fred and George did identical fist-pumps when she said this, "a private beach, 30 acres of forest, and a lake."

The six Weasley boys were astonished at what they had heard and Ginny added, "O and by the way, it also has several guest homes, so if you really don't want to share a room, you can always take your own house."

Percy smiled at this as he did not really want to share a house with Fred and George and have them interrupt his, 'private reading time'.

Arthur cleared his throat and when they were all looking at him he said, "There are also two house elves present so if you need anything, you can just ask them to help you." He opened the gates and led the others through the gate and towards the manor.

When they reached the front door, it was opened by two house elves, one female and one male, and the female said, "Welcome masters and mistresses, we ist honored to be able to serves you."

They both bowed and the female continued, "Mine name ist Millie and this ist Edward. Shall we shows you the house?"

Arthur was the one who replied and said, "That would be nice Millie but please, you don't have to bow to us."

"Okay Master Weasley if yous would follows us than." Millie turned around and led them into the house, while Edward took care of the luggage.

During the next hour they were shown around the manor and it was clear to the quartet that the more Ginny's brothers saw, the less they ever wanted to leave it again.

When the grand tour was over, they gathered in the main living room and they made plans for what they were going to be doing during their stay. Seeing as no one had anywhere to go, they decided to just split up and do whatever they wanted to.

Bill, Charlie and Percy were going to take a look at the guest houses, Fred and George wanted to test out the indoor pool along with Ron. Arthur and Molly decided to sit down with Millie and Edward and when the boys were gone, they informed them of what was going on and why they had had to act as if they had never met.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had decided to spend the day at the beach and headed up to the rooms they had chosen. The two rooms were situated on the back of the house and had a view over the forest.

However, the reason they had chosen them was that they shared bathroom, so Harry could slip into the girls room without having to use the hallway and risk being spotted by one of Ginny's brothers.

When they were all dressed in their swimwear, much to Harry's delight the girls wore the red and gold bikini's they had recently bought, they each took a large towel from the bathroom and made their way towards the beach.

Over the next few days everyone got settled into the manor and during dinner on Friday, Arthur and Molly got the opportunity to finally tell the boys the truth.

"Dad," Ron asked a little whining, "Do we really have to leave tomorrow, this house is amazing."

His brothers quickly agreed to this and Fred and George said,

"-This house-"

"-is simply-"

"-amazing.-"

"-Why don't-"

"-you try-"

"-to buy it-"

"-from Harry's mom."

Arthur threw a meaningful look at Harry and the girls and they knew he ment, 'play along', so that is what they did.

"I don't know boys," Arthur said a little hesitantly. "I don't know what Aurora wants for the property but I'm afraid it is far more than the budget we have." He looked at Harry and so did all of Ginny's brothers.

Harry cleared his throat and said, "Well I'm not sure what my mom wants for it, but it has been renovated and refurnished for nearly half a million galleons, and it has been assessed at fifty million Galleons in value."

The six Weasley brother all looked downcast at that, as they knew there was no way their parents would ever be able to pay that much.

Deciding to put them out of their misery, Arthur said, "However," and when they all looked up hopeful, he added, "do you want to tell them Molly?"

Now all six brothers looked at their mother and with a grin Molly said, "There might be another option."

The looks in their eyes, especially those of the younger ones, as Bill and Charlie already had their own apartments, could only be described as hopeful, until Molly continued. "Now that we are again a wealthy family, there is a chance that we could get a very good bride price for Ginny."

The faces of the boys fell from hope, to shock, to outrage.

"How could you even consider to sell your own daughter," Charlie yelled at his mother, causing Arthur to draw his wand and let out a loud BANG to get them all to listen.

"We're sorry boys, but we have been keeping something from you for a while now." When they looked at him with looks that were the middle between curiosity and suspicion he continued a little more carefully.

"We have signed the deed for this house last Christmas, so we actually already own it."

Ron, Fred, George and Percy were cheering, Charlie looked extremely suspicious and Bill had an understanding look in his eyes.

"At what price?" asked Charlie a little hesitantly.

Arthur sighed, as he knew that question would be asked, before he answered, "Ginny's hand in marriage to…"

Before he could finish his sentence five of the six brothers jumped up and started yelling.

"HOW COULD YOU," roared Charlie

"What is wrong with you people?" yelled Percy.

"To who?" yelled Fred and George at the same time.

"Does this mean we get to live here?" asked Ron hopeful.

When they didn't listen to her parents, Ginny drew her 'pocketknife' and slammed the butt on the stone table, cracking the top, while roaring, "SHUT IT."

They immediately fell silent at this and looked a little fearful at the large blade in their sister's hands, before Ginny continued on a normal tone. "Before you all go running around yelling, perhaps you could stop for a moment to consider what _I_ want."

They all looked a little ashamed of themselves as none of them had considered that and Bill said, "So I assume that both you and Harry are comfortable with your engagement?"

At this the other five gaped between Bill and Harry and Ginny and back.

Ginny nodded and Harry said, "We are Bill. We fell in love a few weeks after Halloween and have been together since. Hermione and Fleur are also okay with it so there is no reason for you to feel sorry for us, as it is something we _wanted._ My mother's first went to me and Ginny about this, before they even brought it up with Arthur and Molly."

At this there fell a silence until Ron said with a big grin on his face, "So this means that Harry Potter will be my brother-in-law?"

Ginny sighed and said, "Yes Ron it does. Since Harry is the sole heir of an ancient house, he will reach maturity when he is fifteen, instead of seventeen and if he marries his wife, or wives if he so chooses, will also be considered adults. This means that we will probably marry soon after Harry's fifteenth birthday."

Ron seemed to be nearly besides himself with excitement at this and was jumping up and down on his chair.

Bill was the first of the others to recover and said with a small grin, "Well Charlie, you know what that means. Unless either of us finds a girl in the next year or so, our little sister will be the first to get married."

Charlie blushed at this and said, "Yea about that…"

"Please don't tell me you are gay," Bill said a little worried, before he added, "No wait you can't be, that party last week proved otherwise."

Charlie got bright red and said, "Yea that girl you saw me with was Joanna, she's a colleague of mine… and she has been my girlfriend for the past nine months."

Bill's mouth fell open at this and he looked wide eyed at his brother, "Merlin's beard Charlie. When were you going to tell me?"

The rest of the occupants looked a little confused at the conversation until Molly interrupted, "Charles Weasley, are you saying that you have been dating a girl for nine months and haven't even introduced her to your mother."

Charlie shrunk into his chair and said, "I was going to introduce you later this holiday."

"You had better mister." Molly said with a stern look and turning to Bill she added, "And perhaps you should take an example of your brother and go find a nice girl for yourself."

"Yes mom," both boys said a little subdued.

Turning to the others again she said, "Now we have one last surprise for you all, as we are going to visit another place for a few days, while Millie and Edward are busy moving all of our stuff from the Burrow to here."

"Where are we going?" ten voices asked at the same time, as none of them knew about this.

That is a surprise," Molly said with a grin and she and Arthur refused to answer any of their many questions.

Finally dinner was over after nearly two hours, and everyone went to their respective rooms to prepare their bags for another surprise trip.

The next morning found them all at breakfast in the kitchen and Arthur and Molly were still refusing to answer any of the questions of where they would be going. After breakfast they said goodbye to Millie and Edward and followed Arthur to the gates.

When they were outside the gates, and outside of the anti-portkey wards, Arthur took out the same piece of rope they had used to get to Weasley manor and handed it to the others. When they were all holding on to it he tapped it with his wand and spoke so softly that no one could hear him.

They all felt the familiar pull behind their navel and they were pulled away in a swirling motion.

This time the journey lasted nearly a minute, indicating that they had traveled at least a few thousand miles. When they stopped, they found themselves on the edge of a small village in the shadow of several large mountains.

When they found their orientation again, Charlie got a bright smile on his face as he said, "Welcome to Transylvania."

The only reply came from Harry who said, "O shit."

Author's note:

I would really like to hear your guesses about what is going to happen in Transylvania as I'm curious to see what you'll think will happen.

The first 7 chapters of part one have been Beta'd and are up now.

If anyone wants to contact me sent me a PM, or if you don't have a fan fiction account, my email address is: Medieval-Maniak 'at' Hotmail . com but without the spaces in between and obviously just the at sign instead of the letters.

I had a review last week from HighlandHero which I would love to respond to but unfortunately email addresses don't show if you put them in reviews. So if you're reading this please send me an email so I can respond to you.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak


	9. Chapter 9

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 9

The Monday after the kids had left Aurora and Gabrielle, got dressed in their Legion uniforms, before making their way to the hall of portraits to have a talk with James and Lily. When they arrived at their painting they found them sleeping softly on the couch in the corner of their portrait.

Gabrielle knocked lightly on the frame and they immediately woke up. "Good morning," yawned James.

Lily asked, "What brings you here so early? Has something happened to Harry?"

Gabrielle held up her hands to stop Lily's worrying and Aurora said, "No Lily, Harry and the girls are perfectly safe, they are currently with the Weasley's on holiday at the new Weasley Manor I told you about remember."

Lily shook her head and said a little relieved, "O yea right, you did say that, sorry."

"Nothing to apologize about Lily, it only shows how much you love him. But onto the reason for our visit. We have to ask a very big favor of you."

At this James and Lily stepped towards the front of their painting and James said, "We're listening."

With an apologetic smile on her face, Aurora said, "Sorry James but this concerns only Lily, so it is her decision. I would ask you to stay out of this."

James nodded slowly and retreated back to the couch. Gabrielle was the next to speak and she explained the situation to Lily.

"Our chief researcher has created a device that could track the magical radiation that is emitted by the Dark Mark, however it still needs to be tested. We have found someone who is willing to act as our guinea pig, but in return we promised him to ask you if you would be willing to talk with him."

Lily got an understanding look on her face and said softly, "It's Severus isn't it?"

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Aurora said, "Do want to see him and speak with him again?"

Lily softly shook her head and thought deeply about it. "What would happen if I decide not to speak with him?"

Aurora sighed a little and said, "One way or another we have to test that scanner, so in that case we would have to get a 'volunteer' from somewhere else. We could break into Azkaban and kidnap a few of their prisoners, but innocent lives could be lost during such a break-in."

Lily nodded softly and said, "I think I could handle it, but James will not take this well I'm afraid."

Aurora nodded sadly and Gabrielle said, "We know, that's why we asked him to step back while we talked."

Lilly nodded sadly and turning around she said to her husband, "James dear, could you join us again?"

James immediately stood up and made his way towards his wife. "What is it?" he asked when he stood next to Lily.

Lily motioned for Gabrielle to explain it to James and she did. "We have a little problem and Lily could solve that for us. If she comes with us to talk to somebody, it can potentially save dozens, if not hundreds of lives."

James looked a little suspicious as he heard this and asked, "And who would she have to talk to?"

Gabrielle took a deep breath before she replied, "Severus Snape."

"NO WAY IN HELL," roared James. "She is not going to talk with that… that… that greasy bat. He is the reason we are dead in the first place. If he hadn't been eavesdropping, Voldemort would never have found out about the prophecy, and we might still be alive to raise our son ourselves."

Aurora and Gabrielle both nodded but Aurora said, "We understand your anger James, but we believe Snape has changed since your deaths, especially Lily's. He is helping Harry and the girls with extra lessons in potions, he has made a vow to spy for us when Voldemort returns and he has made an unbreakable deal with Harry to help him destroy Voldemort.

We need his help James, Boltrock has made a device that can track Death Eaters by the radiation coming from the Dark Mark. Snape is willing to help us test it, but in return we promised him we would try to arrange for him to speak with Lily. If she does not…"

"Well you tried and you failed." James interrupted sarcastically. "Just tell him Lily didn't want to see him."

Lily gave James an elbow in his side and said a little heatedly, "Let them finish James."

James nodded curtly and Gabrielle continued. "If Lily doesn't come with us, Snape won't help us and we will be forced to break out several Death Eaters from Azkaban, possibly having to kill innocent prison guards in the process. We can't afford not to test this device James, and Snape is the only way that we can do so without bloodshed."

James swallowed once and turned his back towards them. He started walking between the couch and the front of the painting where Lily stood. For several minutes he kept walking and muttering softly to himself.

After about five minutes he turned back to the front and said on a demanding tone, "Fine she can go, but you two will not leave her alone with that greasy bat.

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle took a small frame from a bottomless pouch on her belt and held it next to the portrait of James and Lily. The frame was fifteen by twenty inches and showed a scene of a small meadow. Lilly gave James a hug and moved to the small frame, where she lay down in the grass and went to sleep.

Aurora and Gabrielle said goodbye to James and made their way back downstairs to the entrance hall where Dan and Ivan were waiting for them. When Dan saw the small frame Gabrielle was holding he said, "So you managed to convince James to let her go."

Aurora nodded and replied, "That we did. As you can expect he isn't happy with it but he agreed none the less." Dan and Ivan nodded in agreement and they followed them to the travel room to pick up Snape from Hogwarts. Before they left, Dan and Ivan donned their masks and Gabrielle put the small portrait into a pouch on her belt before they all stepped through one-by-one.

When they exited from the familiar fireplace in Minerva's office, said professor wasn't in her room and so they made their way towards the entrance hall and down to the dungeons. When they stood before Snape's door, Aurora raised her hand and knocked twice.

A few seconds later Snape opened the door and stopped when he saw the four visitors that stood before him. He swallowed once and said to Aurora and Gabrielle, "Good morning my ladies, I assume it is time?"

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and said, "Yes it is Snape, if you would follow us, we will go to the laboratory and proceed with the testing." Snape nodded once and walked back into his room to get his cloak.

When he came out again Aurora and Gabrielle led the small group outside of the castle and onto the road towards Hogsmeade. They walked in silence for over fifteen minutes until they reached the end of the school grounds, and the end of the wards.

When they had exited the entry gates to the grounds, Aurora pulled a piece of rope from a pouch and handed it to the others. When they all held it she said softly, "Legion HQ London," and they were pulled away by the hook behind their navel.

When they landed they found themselves in front of the gates of the old castle that used to be the HQ. Aurora and Gabrielle led the others inside while Dan and Ivan were flanking Snape, despite his promise and their words to James, they did not fully trust him so they took no chances and kept him under surveillance.

They took the large elevator all the way down to the old vault and when they excited the elevator Snape was visibly impressed by the immense steel doors and hallway they were standing in.

Even after ten years, Dan was still impressed by the immense doors and again wondered how they had been able to create it so far underground without anyone noticing. The obvious answer was magic but he had no idea of what kind of magic it had been.

In the meantime, Gabrielle had opened the first door and she motioned for the three men to follow her and Aurora through the door. When they were all through, Aurora opened the second door and they walked into the vault.

Unlike the last time when Dan had been there, the immense, subterranean bunker was nearly empty. The only things in the room were a few tables with different devices on them. There was also a large group of Legionnaires ninety-nine men strong and half a dozen goblins.

When they entered the vault Boltrock had been talking with a few of his 'minions' but he quickly sent them off when he saw Aurora and Gabrielle approaching with the three men behind them.

"Ah Welcome my Ladies, good that you are here as we are ready to begin." Turning to Snape he added, "I assume you are our guinea pig for today?"

Snape nodded curtly and shook the goblin's offered hand. After the introductions had been made, Boltrock directed Snape towards the tables with equipment and had him sit down on a large wooden chair.

When asked, Snape bared his left arm and Boltrock helped him to clip the sleeve to his upper-arm. When the arm was bared, Boltrock strapped Snape into the chair to prevent him from moving during the fine-tuning of the MRS.

After he studied the Dark Mark for a few minutes, Boltrock held up his left hand and one of his assistants hurried to hand him the prototype of the Magical Radiation Scanner.

The MRS somewhat resembled a large old-fashioned pair of binoculars with a head strap attached to it and half a dozen small wheels on each side. Boltrock placed the MRS before his eyes and closed the strap around his head so it stayed in place.

After another few minutes of turning on the wheels on the MRS, Boltrock aimed it towards the Dark Mark on Snape's forearm and said, "This might hurt a little," before he pushed a button on the MRS and a beam of red light shot out from the front and hit the Dark Mark.

Snape snarled in discomfort as a burning pain flowed from the Dark Mark into the rest of his arm and spread through his body. The beam stayed active for half a minute until a soft 'PING" was heard and the beam disappeared again.

Boltrock removed the MRS from his head and brought it to one of the tables. Once there he removed a small crystal from within the main body of the MRS and studied it closely under a telescope.

"Hmm, this is odd," Boltrock mused to himself after several minutes. "It would appear that the Dark Marks are connected by a variation on the normal Protean charm."

Turning to Snape Boltrock said, "Please tell me the moment you feel a change in the Dark Mark." Snape nodded in reply and Boltrock returned his attention to the crystal underneath the telescope.

He adjusted the height of the telescope and took up a pair of tweezers in his right hand and a very small silver needle in his left. Grabbing the crystal with the tweezers, he carefully moved the needle towards it surface and very lightly touched it to the surface.

Immediately Snape snarled in pain and when Boltrock turned around he saw that the Dark Mark had not changed in form or color but the area around it had become bright red.

Boltrock turned back to the crystal and touched it on a different spot, but this time nothing happened. Touching the crystal again, nothing happened. Over the course of the next few minutes, Boltrock kept touching the crystal with the needle and the longer Snape stayed silent, the deeper the frown on Boltrock's brow became.

When the goblin master engineer looked up from the crystal his expression spoke of disgust and confusion. He turned to Snape and asked on a dark tone, "When you took that mark, were you aware that you essentially allowed a very dangerous parasite to live in your arm?"

There fell a deafening silence in the gigantic room and everyone looked at Snape. Aurora and Gabrielle, who had been conversing with Dan, Ivan and several other Legion officers, quickly walked over to where Boltrock and Snape were working.

Snape looked completely flabbergasted at what Boltrock had just asked him and was unable to immediately reply. When Aurora and Gabrielle arrived at the tables, they quickly conversed with the goblin and some of his assistants before they turned to Snape.

"I… I…," the potions master seemed to be unable to form coherent sentence and swallowed heavily before he tied again. "No, I… I was no… not aw… aware of that."

Aurora turned to Boltrock and asked, "Could you explain a bit more?"

Boltrock nodded and turned back to Snape. "The Dark Mark on your arm, and all the others I assume, essentially have two purposes. The first and most commonly known is to allow Voldemort to summon his Death Eaters towards him."

Snape nodded as he already knew that and Boltrock continued his explanation. "The second purpose, as I have just found out, is to allow Voldemort to draw upon the magical power of all those who bare the Dark Mark."

At this there was some confused murmuring between Boltrock's assistants while Aurora asked. "So let me get this straight, Voldy can use the mark to draw magical power from his followers to allow him to keep fighting while weakening his followers?"

Boltrock nodded and replied. "That is essentially correct but there is more to it. My tests proved that there is only a certain amount of power Voldemort can draw from the Dark Marks and that ability is certainly hampered by distance and certain wards. The wards around this complex ensure that nothing we do here is noticed by anyone outside so there is no need to worry about that now.

But back to the amount of power Voldemort can, steal, for lack of a better word. I suspect that what he steals can only be used to refill his own magical core, it does not enlarge his power, it merely enables him to keep going for a longer time.

Because he is very powerful wizard, the amount he can steal from others is equally large. Luckily for his followers, there are very many whom Voldemort draws from, so the individual loss is not even noticeable. However, when he begins to suffer losses, the individual amount will rise.

For example, if he is down to, let's say a hundred followers, the individual loss will be very noticeable and substantially weaken all of his followers. If he is down to fifty, there could be cases with total magical depletion, leading to death or total loss of magic."

The silence that fell was just as deafening as before and Snape seemed to be having trouble digesting all he just heard. After a few minutes he looked back up to the goblin and asked, "Is there a way to remove the Dark Mark?"

Boltrock nodded and replied, "Yes there is, several to be exact. Every amateur with a sword could just cut of the arm and that's that."

Snape swallowed and looked a bit worriedly to his arm, it was obvious he had no desire to lose his arm. When Snape turned back to Boltrock, he saw that the goblin has a small smirk on his face before he continued.

"I said every _amateur_ would do that, I am not an amateur. I would recommend that, when the time comes and his numbers have fallen low enough, you request a cleansing ritual at Gringotts. That ritual will remove anything dark or dangerous from a living being, without harming the living being itself."

Snape looked very relieved at that and thanked Boltrock for his explanation. Boltrock merely nodded in reply and turning to Aurora and Gabrielle he said, "Now that we have successfully determined the nature of the radiation, we can continue with the actual testing of my MRS."

Aurora nodded and turned to Snape, who was being released by Boltrock. When he was free she said, "For the test to work you need to look exactly like the Legionnaires. Could you transform your robes in what they are wearing or do I need to get you a set to change in?"

Snape looked closely to the uniforms of the nearest soldier and said after a few seconds. "I'll manage," before he flicked his wand and suddenly he was dressed like the Legionnaires, though without the mask.

Snape looked a little confused as to the absence of the mask but Gabrielle explained, "Don't worry you didn't make a mistake. The masks cannot be copied or in any way created by magic. We already thought this might happen so we brought you a 'blank' mask to wear."

She withdrew a mask from a pouch and handed it to Snape. This mask carried none of the extra's that the real ones had and was just as the name said, only a mask. Instead of the self-securing charms of the real ones, this one had two pieces of rope to allow it to be tied around the head.

The potion's master felt a little hesitation when he accepted the mask but he put it on none the less and tied it behind his head.

When he looked exactly like a Legionnaire, Aurora snapped her fingers and the real Legionnaires immediately stood at attention in ten ranks of ten men each, except for the first which was nine men.

She indicated for Snape to join them, which he did without a word and Aurora addressed the entire group.

"In a minute I will put out all the lights in the room, in the darkness you are to spread out around the room and create a large circle. When the lights go on again just stand still and Boltrock will pass around the room with the MRS. If it works correctly, it will give a signal when it comes within fifteen feet of the Dark Mark."

The legionnaires all saluted and Snape was only picked out because he nodded instead. Aurora next addressed Snape and said, "Snape, I suggest you use a night vision charm on yourself so you don't crash into someone or something when the lights go out."

Snape nodded again and drew his wand before he made a few complex moves with the tip aimed at his eyes. When he was done he put his wand away again and nodded towards Aurora.

When Boltrock indicated he was ready, Aurora walked towards the large steel doors and flipped the switch next to it, immediately it went pitch black. The only noise in the now dark chamber was the soft sound made by the heavy combat boots of the Legionnaires.

When everyone was silent again, Aurora looked around the chamber once, she and Gabrielle had no need of their masks to be able to see in the dark, and she saw that everyone was on their spot around the chamber.

Flipping the switch again the lights returned and revealed a wide circle around the outer sides of the chamber. Boltrock was still standing next to the table and had worn a blindfold when the lights went out, as just as Aurora and Gabrielle, goblins could see perfectly well in the darkness. He was tapped on the shoulder by one of his assistants and he removed the blindfold, only to replace it with his prototype of the MRS.

Now that he wore his invention, he slowly walked around the room and when he had passed around three quarters of the circle, he stopped and pulled up the sleeve of the man before him, revealing the Dark Mark.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Boltrock's assistants cheered silently and the master engineer carried a small smile as well. However, it was too soon to cheer as there were many more tests to do.

Over the course of the next three hours, they performed dozens of tests to see if the result stayed the same in differing circumstances. Snape was asked to cover the Dark Mark with every kind of concealment they could think of. These included, dragon hide, Kevlar, titanium, lead, glamour charms, and even Polyjuice potion. The result stayed the same, every single time Boltrock managed to pick Snape from amongst the Legionnaires.

When noon had come, Boltrock was finally content that the MRS would function without errors and he allowed himself to grin as well. He barked a few words in gobbledygook and one of his assistants pulled a bottle from a pouch on his belt. The assistant passed out glasses to Aurora, Gabrielle, Snape, and Boltrock, before he filled them with a dark brown, nearly black liquid.

Boltrock made a silent toast, which the others repeated and they threw the liquor down their throats. As soon as the liquor touched his throat, Snape started coughing and he had trouble swallowing the dark liquor.

"Wha… wha… what is that," he coughed and the tears were burning in his eyes, while the other three had small grins on their faces.

"We goblins call it Arkas, it is made of black berries with a few extra ingredients. It has quite the kick for an unfamiliar throat."

"You… you don't sa… say," Snape managed to say while he quickly conjured a goblet filled with water. Drowning the goblet in one large gulp, Snape vanished the goblet again before he was able to speak complete sentences again.

Snape turned to Aurora and asked, "Was this all you needed my help with?"

Aurora nodded and said, "Yes this was all for now. If we have further need for you, we will discuss it with you. But for now you have earned your reward Snape. If you'll follow us, we will take you to a room where you and Lily can have some privacy."

Snape had to swallow down some emotions before he nodded and he followed Aurora and Gabrielle back to the elevator, while he himself was followed by Dan and Ivan.

They headed back up to the surface and Aurora led them towards a small room where a chair and a table where set up. Aurora indicated for Snape to take the chair while Gabrielle removed the small frame from the pouch on her belt and set it on the holder on the table, so it stood facing Snape.

When Gabrielle stepped aside, Lily was revealed to Snape. For the first time in over a decade, he saw the only woman he ever loved and the normally so cold-hearted man broke down. He fell from the chair on the floor before the table and sat there on his hands and knees while the tears were streaming down his cheeks and he cried, "I'm so, so sorry Lily, for everything I have ever done to you."

He seemed unable to say more but Aurora and Gabrielle decided to give them some privacy and they led Dan and Ivan out of the room. When she closed the door behind her, Gabrielle could hear Lily say something but it was too soft for even them to hear.

When they left the room, a Legionnaire came running towards them and said a little panting, "Boltrock asks for you, he has returned to Avalon as there has been an unforeseen development with the Mammoth problem."

Aurora nodded to the man and said, "We'll go there right away, please stay at this door and wait for the man to come out. When he does, get him to the travel room and send him on the floo back to Hogwarts, tell him we'll be in touch.

Also make sure he leaves the portrait in the room and that the woman in the portrait is unharmed and still present. We trust him, but not that much. When he is gone, call our house elf Fredrick. He'll be listening for when he is called and he'll take care of the painting."

The Legionnaire saluted and went to grab a chair from the next room and set it down next to the door before sitting down in it.

Aurora turned to Dan and Ivan and said, "We have to get to Avalon right now, gather the men from downstairs and get them back as well."

Dan nodded and said, "We'll get it done, don't worry." Aurora nodded in thanks and she gave Gabrielle a hand before both women flamed away.

They re-appeared on the airfield on Avalon and could see the smoke rising from the testing grounds. Quickly flaming away again they re-appeared a mile further and ran the last few hundred feet to the smoking wreckage of what was once a Mammoth.

Boltrock and two dozen of his engineers were standing 30 feet from the smoldering wreck while a fire truck from the airfield was dousing the last flames.

Gabrielle turned to Boltrock and asked quickly, "Are there any casualties?"

The master engineer shook his head and said, "Fortunately not. The crew managed to get out before the fire spread. It appears to be caused by a short circuit in the new model of tracks they were testing."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded slowly in understanding and Aurora said carefully, "So I assume this version will not be used?"

Boltrock nodded and said, "No they will not. In fact, I think I have already decided which version we are going to be using."

At this, both Aurora and Gabrielle looked surprised and Boltrock added with a small grin, " I think you're going to like this."

He turned to two of his assistants and said something in gobbledygook before they hurried away.

A few minutes later a second Mammoth approached, this one still intact, and drove towards them.

When it stood before them they could see that it sat on four sets of tracks, each 3 feet wide and 10 feet long, two in the front and two in the back. The tracks were composed of many interlocking metal plates each three inches by twelve inches.

The plates were solid but small squares could be seen all over the plates. The squares were maybe an inch by an inch, but didn't seem to have any function.

Boltrock grinned when he saw the confused looks of Aurora and Gabrielle and said, "Watch this." He pointed towards the small squares while yelling an order to one of the Legionnaires who was manning the tank.

The Legionnaire nodded once and said something to his colleague who was driving. In a second the whole look of the tracks changed. While they had been smooth and fit to be used on asphalt roads, they were not so anymore.

The small squares slid open and from the holes sprung metal points, looking remarkably like rail spikes. Each spike was roughly four inches long and an inch square.

Aurora and Gabrielle looked impressed, something not many had ever had the privilege of witnessing, and Boltrock said with a large grin on his face. "Wait till you see what else it does."

Mere seconds after he said that, the massive tank seemed to lift itself up as the four tracks slowly moved diagonally until they were set in a 90° angle and they could hear a loud CLICK as if something locked itself.

What happened next was something that really got Boltrock grinning, the massive tank, now elevated about eight feet above the ground, started moving the tracks individually in a walking motion and the Mammoth moved forwards with surprising speed.

Looking towards Aurora and Gabrielle he saw something that had not been witnessed by any living being for more than five-hundred years. Both women were staring with their mouths hanging open and a look in their eyes that screamed, 'What the fuck?'

Boltrock had to shake his head a few times and even pinched himself to see if he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing. He quickly pulled a small magical camera from a pouch and snapped a photo as proof.

The flash of light from the camera seemed to bring Aurora and Gabrielle back to the present and they said as one, "Wow."

Boltrock grinned and said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Well it seems that the reward is mine."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked confused at him and so he said, still with that grin on his face, "The grandfather of Lord Ragnok was a little put off by the fact that nothing seemed to impress you two. So in his wisdom he wrote out a contest, whoever could bring him, or one of his heirs, proof of you two being impressed by something, would get a prize of two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand Galleons."

Aurora and Gabrielle seemed unable to say something but looked at Boltrock with raised eyebrows and Gabrielle said a little threateningly, "Are you saying that Agrok the Elder wrote out a contest concerning us, and didn't even tell us?"

Being one of only a few people capable of doing so, Boltrock didn't shirk away at the tone in Gabrielle's voice and said, "That is correct."

Aurora and Gabrielle shook their heads until Aurora said matter-of-factly, "Now that you mention it, he did seem rather irritated when we weren't as enthusiastic as he was when he showed us the subterranean hangar at the London HQ when it was finished in 1923."

Now it was Boltrock who shook his head and said. "Yes, and your calm demeanor was what made him make the decision to retire and pass the job on to his son, Agrok the younger, Ragnok's father."

"Oh," Aurora and Gabrielle replied as one with a little sheepish expression on their faces.

Gabrielle actually blushed a little while she added, "We had no idea he took our reaction, or actually more like the lack of one, that hard. It wasn't our intention to disrespect him, it was just that we had just returned from a mission in South America where a bunch of rogue dark wizards had built a base inside of a hollow mountain."

Boltrock nodded and replied, "I know, Agrok the younger thought so and he told my father about it."

Aurora and Gabrielle were silent until Boltrock said with another grin on his face, "Take a look at that," while he motioned towards the Mammoth that was driving towards a solid rock wall.

Aurora and Gabrielle followed his direction and to their amazement, they saw the massive tank lower its tracks again and drive straight towards the wall. When it was only twenty feet away, the front tracks were hydraulically lowered so the hull was in a 45° angle pointing up and the spikes in the track allowed it to grip the rock wall and just drive upwards while the front tracks were put in their normal stance again.

"Sweet," said Aurora while Gabrielle nodded approvingly. "That is sure to come in handy, what kind of angles can they climb?"

Boltrock showed them a toothy grin and said, "We have tested them up till 50° angles, but we don't dare to go higher as they showed signs of nearly slipping at that angle. But still, they can climb pretty much any grass or earth wall they come up against as those provide much better support for the spikes."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded again and Gabrielle asked, "How long do you think it'll take to equip the Mammoths already built, and how much longer till all the chieftains are replaced?"

Boltrock's face fell a little at that and he said, "Yes well about that, our titanium stores are running dangerously low. I'm estimating that we have enough to replace the tracks on the ones already built and maybe ten or fifteen new ones, but after that, we're out of raw titanium ore to melt."

Aurora looked concerned at that and said, "How much do you think it'll cost to restock our supplies?"

Boltrock looked a bit concerned and said, "Well it depends on the current market value, we need at least a full ship-load of raw ore for the Mammoths alone, and another one for each of the additional two MPACSs you have ordered. It could be well over one-hundred-million Galleons for everything we need.

Luckily I had already calculated on the need to resupply for the Mammoths, so that shipment is on the way and should be here in about a week. However, our supplier told me that the mine it came from is now depleted, so we'll need to find a new supplier for the ore we need to build the MPACSs."

Aurora nodded thoughtfully and after a few minutes she asked, "Do you have enough titanium left to finish the current MPACSs?"

Boltrock nodded and said, "We do, however we did make a few last minute adjustments for the extra firepower you requested, so we'll be able to do it, but only barely. The front and aft now each sport two turrets, instead of one, each with room for three 380 mm cannons. Also we added a third and a fourth 240 mm cannon to each of the four mid-ship turrets.

Furthermore, we have made all turrets adjustable in height, so they don't interrupt the shooting field of the others. The ships can now deliver a full broadside from twelve 380 mm, and sixteen 240 mm cannons."

Aurora and Gabrielle both looked on approvingly and Gabrielle said, "That is excellent news Boltrock, also were you able to increase the hangar size to accommodate the larger bulk of the Mammoths and possibly the new Osprey's if we decide to take them?"

Boltrock nodded and replied, "We were able to do so, but not by much as we dare not use any magic in their construction as it could endanger the structural integrity if something happens to the wards.

The amphibious bay at water level can hold all sixty Mammoths in a regiment in addition to forty-five of the new BMP-3 amphibious infantry fighting vehicles we got thanks to Vasily.

The aft hangar below deck can, if the specifications Zhukovo got for me are correct, hold sixty Ospreys. Two squadrons of Apache's, each with twenty-four helicopters, are stored on deck. And the twenty-four Mil-Mi's of the tank-carrier squadron can be housed in the bow hangar which is directly connected to the amphibious landing bay through a couple of elevators."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in appreciation and Aurora said, "That is marvelous news Boltrock. You and your teams have done excellent work and you should be proud. How long do you think until they are ready to be christened?"

Boltrock took a small scroll from a pouch, looked at it for a moment, and put it away again. "If everything goes as planned we can christen the ships during the first week of August, however that will be only the ships, as the Mammoths will not be ready by then, neither will the Ospreys if we take them."

Aurora nodded and Gabrielle replied, "I think that is as good as could be done under the circumstances, please keep us informed about the progress."

Boltrock inclined his head and he walked back towards the Vault, with his assistants behind him.

Gabrielle looked at Aurora and said with a little hesitation, "Do you think we should get _Him_ to look for a new titanium mine? He is the best one for the job I think."

Aurora nodded softly and said, "I'm afraid you're right, I just hope we have enough Bordeaux from 1649 A.D. left to get him to agree. I do not want to use the 1228 unless it is absolutely necessary."

Gabrielle nodded lightly and said softly, "I'm sure we have enough, remember we bought the entire harvest that year I think we have between four- and five-hundred barrels left, and he'll probably do it for twenty or thirty. I'll sent him a note with Furya tomorrow."

Author's note:

Please don't hate me but this was the most logical place to put this chapter in. I know you're all anxious to know what happens in Transylvania but I'm afraid you'll have to wait till next week. Rest assured though, it'll be well worth the wait and it's going to be epic.

Till next week

Medieval Maniak.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 10

 _When they found their orientation again, Charlie got a bright smile on his face as he said, "Welcome to Transylvania."_

 _The only reply came from Harry, "O shit."_

The words slipped out of Harry's mouth before he could stop himself and Hermione, Fleur and Ginny looked at him with suspicious looks while the other Weasleys looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong Harry?" asked Molly in a slightly concerned tone.

Not wanting to insult their hosts Harry said quickly, "Ehh nothing. It isn't important I just forgot to pack something at home but I'll ask Charles to bring it later."

Molly nodded in acceptance and the group turned towards Charlie who started leading them into the village and towards the largest building amongst the group of houses.

When they arrived, the doors of the building flew open and a girl with long brown hair came running out. She was of medium height with a freckled face and soft brown eyes. Her hair was in a braid and flying behind her while she ran towards Charlie and yelled, "You're back."

Charlie caught her in his arms and swung her around to absorb the impact of her crashing into him. The girl covered his face in quick kisses and Charlie went beat red when he saw the looks of his family, especially those of Bill and the twins.

Bill had a look of amusement on his face while the twins looked gaping and said as one, "Wow, where can we get one of those?"

The others were all looking in confusion until Bill said, "Hey Romeo, are you going to introduce us to your girlfriend or what?"

The girl quickly released Charlie when she heard Bill and hid behind Charlie when she saw the curious expressions of the others. Charlie laughed at her reaction and said, "Joanna, meet my family. Guys meet Joanna, my girlfriend."

Joanna came from behind Charlie's back and shook their hands as they introduced themselves. When she got to Harry, Hermione and Fleur she hesitated and looked at their lack of red hair. When she threw a look at Charlie he said, "Yes those three are not family but they are the best friends of my sister Ginny."

Joanna nodded understandingly and turned back to the trio to shake their hands too. Harry was last and when she heard his name she said, "Are you the son of the late Lord James and Lady Lily Potter?"

When Harry nodded she added, "Well then I would like to sincerely thank you. Your family is one of the biggest donors for the preserve and singlehandedly supplies half of our funding."

Harry looked surprised at that and said, "Ehh if you say so. I have no idea to be honest. My family fortune is managed personally by Lord Ragnok at Gringotts and I'll get control over it when I turn fifteen but I have no idea what happens with it at the moment, or how much will be left when I receive the key."

Both Bill and Charlie had to grin at that and Charlie said, "Don't worry Harry. Joanna is in charge of all financial matters here at the preserve and she's quite good at it, your family's money is well spent."

Joanna nodded while Bill coughed softly to get the attention of the others. When he had it he said, "I do not know how much is in your family's vault Harry, but I do know one thing. They are amongst the deepest and most secure vaults in the world, meaning that they contain an immense wealth, so I don't think you have to worry about running out of gold in the near future."

Harry blushed at that as he didn't know about the true wealth of his family. All Aurora and Gabrielle had told him was that he was pretty well off and would have to really try to spend even half of his trust fund alone.

Arthur noticed Harry's discomfort and said quickly, "Well let's not stand here talking about boring things. Why don't you show us where we can sleep so we can put away our bags?"

Charlie nodded and he took Joanna's hand before they led the group into the large building that turned out to be the office building of the preserve, in addition to a rather small hotel and showed them all to their rooms.

The limited number of rooms in the hotel forced them to share, so there were multiple people in the same room. Arthur and Molly shared one, the twins had commandeered one for themselves and kicked Ron out when he tried to join them, so he shared one with Bill and Percy. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny shared a fourth room and Charlie and Joanna had their own apartment amongst the employee quarters.

When they were on their own room, Fleur shut the door behind them and Hermione said sternly, "Okay spill mister, what happened after we landed?"

Ginny and Fleur sat down besides her on the bed and Harry sank down on one of the chairs before he answered. "When we left home last week, mom stopped me for a moment and told me something. That is why I was a bit later than you three.

She said that there was a chance that your parents Ginny, would take us to visit Charlie at the preserve here. They had sent a letter warning your parents not to do so but mom already said that she didn't trust your owl. If we did indeed happen to find ourselves in Transylvania, I had to contact them immediately. I got the impression they were worried about something but couldn't put my finger on it."

Fleur's and Ginny's faces went a little white and Hermione said with exasperation. "If mom told you to contact her _immediately_ and you got the impression it _might_ be about something they worried about, then why didn't you do so the moment we landed?"

Harry had the decency to look a little sheepishly while he answered, "I didn't want to insult Arthur and Molly by immediately contacting my moms when I heard where we were."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said with a very good imitation of Professor McGonagall's thinnest lips. "Get. That. Mirror. Out. Now."

Harry hurried to obey and rummaged around in the pouch on his belt before he withdrew the folded mirror. The crossed arms and angled eyebrows of the trio of girls told Harry that he was in for a world of trouble after he had talked with Aurora so he opened the mirror and hid behind it.

"Aurora." Harry said to the mirror and he only had to wait for a minute before his mother's face appeared in the mirror. Her long hair was braided and she was drinking from a water bottle.

"Hello sweetie, how are you four is everything all right with you and the girls."

Harry nodded and turned the mirror around so Aurora could see Hermione, Fleur and Ginny sitting on the bed in the exact same position as Harry had last seen them. When he turned the mirror back to himself Aurora asked with a little grin, "What have you done Harry?"  
before she took another gulp from her water bottle.

Harry got a little red and said, "Well I told them about what you said right before I left last week."

Aurora nodded and motioned for him to continue while she kept drinking, apparently she had been exercising or something.

"Well they were a little upset that I didn't call you the moment we found out that we were in Transylvania and…"

Aurora had been taking another big gulp of water when Harry said this and spit it all out against the mirror and said with clear anger and worry in her voice, "WHAT?! When did you arrive and why in magic's name haven't you done as I said? Never mind that get the girls here NOW."

The girls had been listening and hurried over to Harry before Aurora finished.

When she saw the girls as well Aurora continued. "Listen to me very carefully because this is not something to joke about. I want you to take out your trunks and put on your armor right now, before I say anything else."

Harry and the girls were shocked at the worry and even, if it was possible, a little panic in Aurora's voice and hurried to do as she said. They quickly enlarged their trunks and took out the pieces of their armor before stripping down to their underwear and putting them on.

When they were all four dressed in their armor they saw that Gabrielle had joined Aurora in the mirror and she looked even more worried than Aurora did.

"Okay kids," said Aurora when the four kids reappeared in front of the mirror. "There is one thing you need to know about your situation. You are right now standing in the middle of enemy territory. The only thing protecting you now is the daylight outside.

I want you to take your _real_ wands and put them in your right holsters, this is one of those life or death situations we told you about. Also carry your school wands, combat knives and SILH's with you _all_ the time, even when you go to bed. We will join you soon but there are a few things we need to get first. If you are attacked, fight back with all you have but do _not_ kill your attackers. If you do, it could very well start a war."

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were shocked at the seriousness of Aurora and Gabrielle and didn't object but Ginny asked, "What do we tell my family when they ask about our armor?"

Aurora shook her head and replied, "Don't tell them anything if you can avoid it. Just put the clothes we bought for your boot camp over your armor and they'll hide it from the others. If anything strange happens, contact us _immediately_. Otherwise we'll be there in about an hour. Watch out and in my father's name stay away from the shadows."

They promised to be careful and Harry put the mirror away again before they left the room and found Fred and George with their ears pressed against their door. When Harry opened it the twins fell into the room as they were leaning against the door in their attempt to eavesdrop on them.

Ginny turned red and yelled at her brothers, "WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME WHERE YOU DOING?"

Fred and George mumbled a little and quickly tried to run away but failed when Harry and Fleur grabbed Fred and Hermione and Ginny grabbed George. They dragged the twins into their room and pushed them onto the bed.

Standing in front of the twins they drew their school wands and aimed them straight between the eyes of the twins. "Now what the hell where doing outside of our door," asked Ginny with a angry tone while the twins' stares flicked between their wands.

Fred and George tried to laugh at their sister's tone but the quartet was not in any mood for jokes. The warning of Aurora was still clear in their minds and they were prepared to take drastic measures to find out what they had overheard.

Fred and George stood up and Fred said,

"Okay kids-"

"-this is-"

"-all very-"

"-cute and all-"

"-but we-"

"-are going-"

"-back to our- "

"-own room now."

They tried to walk away but Ginny drew back her sleeves, showing the black metal of her right gauntlet and gave one of the twins a punch in his stomach. George doubled over and sunk back on the bed while Fred looked outraged and yelled, "What in Merlin's name has gotten into you Gin, we were just…"

"SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN." The quartet yelled as one and the sheer force of the magic flowing off of them threw Fred down on the bed next to his gasping twin and closed the door with such force that it split in two.

Fred looked with fear in his eyes at the kids before him and said quickly. "We heard someone yell and were curious to what you were doing so we tried to eavesdrop on you."

"What did you hear?" growled Ginny softly.

"No… not much," sputtered Fred. "only something about being in enemy territory and you guys wearing armor."

"You don't say," wheezed George who was still gasping for breath, "that felt as though you were using a beater's bat."

Ginny revealed her metal gauntlets and showed them to the twins. "This is not a situation to joke about Fred, George. According to Harry's mom, we are all in mortal danger right now so we are a little on edge."

Fred and George paled significantly and Fred said, "Wait you mean the person you were talking to was Harry's mom?"

Harry nodded and replied, "Yes indeed, and since this is something that has my moms scared, I'm willing to believe them when they say we are in danger."

They nodded and George said softly, "No disrespect or anything Harry, but what in Merlin's name can scare your mothers, they're scary as hell themselves."

The quartet nodded and Hermione said, "We don't know exactly, all she said was that the only thing keeping us safe was daylight and we had to stay away from the shadows until they got here."

Fred and George were still looking pale but the quartet finally dropped their wands and put them back in their holsters.

At that moment Bill, Percy and Ron walked past their room and when they saw the broken door, Bill decided to knock. He tapped his knuckles against the door and it fell from its hinges and crashed into the room, startling the quartet and causing them to draw their wands again.

When they saw who it was they sighed in relief and put them away again, "Hey guys," Fleur said with an attempt at lightening the mood, "we had a little accident Bill, would you mind repairing the door for us?"

Bill shook his head softly before pulling out his wand and waving it at the broken door. The two pieces floated upwards, merged seamlessly and hung themselves back in the frame.

Fleur gave Bill a brilliant smile and he had to shake his head a few times to shake of the effect of Fleur's allure, causing her to blush and stammer, "I'm so sorry Bill, I didn't do it on purpose."

Bill raised his hand to stop her and said, "Don't worry about it, we just came to say that mom and dad are waiting for us in the lobby. Charlie and Joanna are taking us on a tour through the preserve."

The quartet and the twins all nodded and stood up before following Bill, Percy and Ron down the stairs.

When they arrived at the lobby they found Arthur, Molly, Charlie and Joanna already waiting for them. Charlie waved them over and said, "Well, the weather forecast is very good with a cloudless sky so we'll have a great time today."

Molly looked curiously at Harry and the girls who were the only ones not wearing shorts and half sleeve t-shirts. "Why did you change kids, the weather is lovely outside, you'll be sweating in no-time dressed like that."

The kids just shrugged in response and made a few non-discernible sounds before they headed outside and Molly decided to drop the matter.

Fifteen minutes later they were walking under the trees towards the heart of the preserve. Harry and the girls were cautiously looking around them, alert for any kind of danger and Harry held the mirror in his hand so he was able to use it instantly if needed.

"Well, well, well, what have we here," a cold voice came from the darkness and suddenly they found themselves surrounded on all sides. Shadows were moving in the twilight under the trees and Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie and Joanna all drew their wands before spreading around the others and taking up defensive positions.

The same cold voice as before spoke again and it said, "O please, do you really think those pathetic pieces of wood will do you any good right now."

One of the shadows stepped forward and they could see a man, he was tall about 6 ft 3 and he had long dirty blond hair that hung before his eyes. What they could see of his skin was nearly white and he had long fingers with claw-like nails on them. He wore something that reminded them of a medieval tunic with detailed gold embroidery on it.

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming Aurora, you know the rules of the treaty just as well as I do. So come out and show me your face before I start ripping apart your minions." That last part was said with a soft snarl and the other shadows started moving closer.

Harry quickly snapped the mirror open and called his mom. The reply was instant, "What is it Harry?"

Harry turned the mirror towards the stranger and he could hear Aurora curse softly on the other side, "Okay Harry listen up, that is Marcus one of the most powerful vampires in the world and none of you stand a chance against him in a wizards duel. You four go Fenrir mode and keep him busy, we just landed and we'll be there as fast as we can but remember, don't kill him."

Harry nodded and after sharing a look with the girls he received three identical nods in return, they all four turned towards the stranger now known as Marcus and stepped between Bill and Charlie, outside of the circle.

"Harry, girls, what do you think you're doing," they could hear Arthur yell at them but they didn't listen to him.

"Hmm what have we here," Marcus mused to himself before he took a deep breath and smelled the air around him. "You four smell like Aurora and Gabrielle, how is that… of course you are their children, ha ha ha ha ha. O if only your mothers were here to watch me tear your throats out. It would break their pathetic little hearts."

Marcus looked calculating at the group and when he saw them all looking scared he yelled, "KILL THEM."

Harry stepped forward when he said this and the shadows stopped just before they got into view. He said a lot more confident than he felt, "My mom told us not to kill you, so we'll do our best to keep you alive, but I wouldn't press my luck if I were you."

There fell a silence between the trees until Marcus started laughing and was soon joined by the shadows around them and he said tauntingly, "O really am I supposed to be scared by four little kids who don't even wands in their hands."

Harry and the girls let out a low growl and leapt forward. To the astonishment of all those present, they changed mid-jump and landed as four extremely large wolfs.

The kids hadn't really practiced fighting in their Fenrir forms so they let their instincts take over and spread out around the Weasleys and Joanna. Whenever a shadow got to close they would charge with their jaws open and snapped them closed inches from the shadows causing them to retreat again.

This went on for about two minutes until Marcus had had enough and charged forward. He drew a sword from his belt and lunged towards Harry, who was the closest one to him.

Harry saw him coming and tried to evade him but one of the shadows stormed forwards and tackled him from behind, leaving him exposed to Marcus' sword.

Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were likewise tackled and held down while the Weasley's and Joanna were surrounded by the shadows, who were all vampires. About thirty of them were surrounding them and they could all see that the situation was hopeless.

Marcus walked slowly towards Harry, who was struggling with the four vampires who were holding him down and tried to escape the approaching sword.

When Marcus stood before him he snarled, "I'll tell your mother about your courage boy, right before I'll tear her head off." He raised his sword for a blow that would cleave Harry's head right off and brought it down fast. The others could hear the wind splitting before the razor sharp edge and were frozen on their spot, not able to do anything but watch as Harry's end approached.

The blade never made it to its target. An invisible hand caught the blade inches above Harry's furry neck and snapped it off as if it had been made of wood. The broken piece of his sword was stabbed through Marcus' chest, before a second invisible fist also found its way towards Marcus' chest and slammed him backwards against a tree, 15 ft behind him.

A second pair of invisible hands threw the vampires off of Harry so he was able to stand again. Suddenly rifle fire could be heard from all around them and the vampires were thrown into chaos by this sudden assault as one after the other was hit and fell down on the ground.

Hermione, Fleur and Ginny managed to escape from beneath the vampires holding them and after a few swipes with their large claws, the three remaining vampires withdrew back between the trees.

The Weasley men were looking on in shock and Molly and Joanna had fainted when Marcus was about to cut off Harry's head. Arthur and Charlie were trying to wake up their respective wife and girlfriend, when their rescuers revealed themselves.

A large man 7-foot-tall, wearing all black with a white skull mask suddenly appeared next to Harry. Seconds later a second man, dressed exactly the same appeared on the other side of Harry. Another few seconds later two dozen men appeared all around them when the disillusionment charms on them were dropped. All were dressed as the first two men and if not for their masks, they were not directly recognizable as Legionnaires.

Each of them wore the same black metal suit instead of the usual grey combat uniforms. They looked remarkably like the armors worn by Aurora and Gabrielle except these looked a lot more modern. They were all wielding large automatic rifles and a whole assortment of other weapons scattered over their armor.

The first one to reveal himself turned to Harry and the girls, who had quickly come to his side after they freed themselves, and removed his mask. "You all right kids?" Ivan asked with a little concern on his face.

The kids had all changed back in their human form and Harry jumped in his honorary uncle's arms, sobbing in relief and thankful for a familiar face. The girls likewise stormed towards Ivan and hugged him in thanks for saving Harry.

"And where are my hugs?" a familiar voice asked from behind them and they saw the second man had also removed his mask, showing him to be Dan.

"DAD." Yelled Hermione and she jumped in her father's outstretched arms before the others hugged him as well.

During all this the Weasleys were looking confused and shocked, though Arthur seemed a little less surprised to see Ivan, Dan and the others around them.

In the meantime Ivan had made his way over to the tree where Marcus lay and shot him point blank in his chest, a few inches besides the blade that was still stuck there.

Harry released Dan and asked, "Where are my moms? They said they'd be here soon."

Dan had a soft smile on his face and said, "They're here Harry but they had to deal with something first. Apparently one of the inhabitants of the preserve didn't take kindly to us invading his domain."

At these words Charlie looked up and asked with concern clear in his voice, "Was it an extremely large male ironbelly?"

Dan nodded nonchalantly and said, "Yea but don't worry, they'll be here soon."

Charlie looked extremely worried at Dan's casual remark and said, "I hope they survive."

The only ones who did _not_ look at him incredulously were Arthur, Molly, Percy, Fred, George, Ron and Joanna. Who also happened to be the only ones who had never seen Aurora and Gabrielle in their dragon form.

Charlie responded to those looks by saying, "That monster moved in about a month ago, killed the ruling alpha male and continued to terrorize the entire preserve. When we sent the extermination team after him he tore them apart, nine are dead and the other six are still in critical."

The Weasleys, minus Ginny and Bill all looked shocked at that but the others seemed still unimpressed.

Dan looked casually at Charlie and said, "Have you ever heard of the 'giant genocide'?"

Charlie nodded and said, "Yea I heard about it at school. One day there where more than five-hundred of them in Britain alone, and the next they were nearly extinct."

Dan nodded and said, "Aurora and Gabrielle are the ones who organized that. I watched them singlehandedly tear apart nearly seventy giants, without getting a scratch themselves. You have no idea what they are capable of."

Seemingly to prove his point they could hear a dragon roar far above them and a voice that yelled, "GET BACK HERE, YOU FAT UGLY BASTARD."

Dan heard something over his earpiece and said quickly, "Clear the area, torch the branches, we have incoming."

As one the Legionnaires aimed their rifles upwards, flipped a switch with their thumbs and started firing towards the treetops, tearing them apart with the Hellfire rounds and clearing a large open area above them about a hundred feet in diameter.

The sun shone through the newly created clearing and they could see the clear sky. A massive dragon, roughly sixty feet from snout to tail was flying over them. He was followed by two small figures with large bursts of fire behind them, one red and one blue.

"Those are my mothers," Harry said matter-of-factly to the gob smacked Weasleys and Joanna.

They could see the figure with the red fire overtake the dragon and cut open its left wing, causing it to start spinning and decent quickly in a spiral pattern. The other figure caught up with it and cut open the other wing, so it was falling straight downwards.

The dragon was heading straight towards them and Ivan said quickly, "Clear the area, pile those bastards somewhere safe."

The Legionnaires hurried to obey and picked up the limp vampires, dragged them towards a spot maybe 50 feet away and piled them up. Ivan dragged Marcus behind him and dumped him unceremoniously besides the pile of his fellows.

Meanwhile Aurora and Gabrielle had stabbed their swords through the wing muscles of the Ironbelly and were steering it downwards towards the, now human free, newly created clearing.

The dragon fell down between the trees, taking several of them with him in his fall, and landed on the forest floor with a massive crash.

Aurora and Gabrielle had jumped up from the falling dragon when it was about a hundred feet from the ground and controlled their descent with bursts of fire from their hands. They were both dressed in full armor and wearing their red-skull masks, making no secret of who they were.

Surprisingly the dragon survived his crash landing and was struggling to get up to attack the humans surrounding him. But before he was able to do so, Aurora and Gabrielle had landed besides him and Aurora jumped on his neck.

Swiftly running up the dragon's neck, she reached his head and said with a growl, "Stay down, you fat overgrown lizard." And with that she drew her swords and stabbed them both down into the skull of the dragon.

The dragon gave one last roar before his neck fell down and his head crashed back on the forest floor. The dragon was still twitching so Aurora pulled her swords towards her, turning the two deep holes, into two deep long cuts.

Red, boiling dragon blood spurted from the cuts and sprayed all around the dragon's head, covering both Aurora and Gabrielle as they were standing on and next to it.

Aurora pulled her swords from the skull of the now dead dragon and swung them through the air to clear them of the blood and little pieces of dragon brain that clung to the blades. She put them back in their sheaths on her back before pulling a large red towel from one of her bottom-less pouches and wiping her mask clean before handing the towel to Gabrielle.

Aurora pulled her mask from her face and threw her hair backwards after wringing it out, which caused a small stream of dragon blood to drop to the ground, and turned towards the Weasleys who were all looking wide eyed at her and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle handed her the towel back after she had cleaned herself and Aurora used it to wipe the blood from her armor before wringing it out and putting it back where it came from. Next she quickly walked towards Harry and the girls and gave them each a tight hug while asking, "Are you okay, Ivan told us what happened. I'm so sorry we couldn't get here sooner but that dragon attacked us as soon as we arrived, so I had to send Ivan, Dan and the rest of the Black Angels ahead to take out Marcus and his lot."

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny each told her and Gabrielle they were fine while they were hugged and Aurora and Gabrielle turned towards the Weasleys and Joanna, who had fainted again and was lying in Charlie's lap on the forest floor.

Aurora looked at Joanna, sniffed once at the air and swiftly made her way towards Charlie and Joanna and kneeled down besides them. Pulling her gauntlets from her hands she dropped them in her lap and laid her right hand on Joanna's forehead and a few seconds later she put her left hand on Joanna's belly.

Slowly shaking her head, she removed her hands and said to the group of redheads before her, "I'm sorry to say this, but there have been made a number of mistakes today which all could have ended fatally, if Harry had not called me an hour ago."

Arthur shook his head to clear his mind and asked a little confused, "What do you mean My Lady?"

Aurora shook her head again and replied, "We're practically family Arthur so just call me Aurora and I'll explain.

Firstly, you knew who we are, so you could have guessed we might have enemies in some places. While I appreciate the idea to show Harry and the girls around at the preserve, I would have preferred it if you had listened to my warning and kept the kids far away from this place.

We are in Transylvania, in other words, all these lands are under the influence of King Vladislaus, who happens to be the only one who has ever managed to fight a war with us and survive it.

Also Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny are not human anymore, they have certain aspects that cause them to be targeted by any and all territorial beings, like bears, wolfs and tigers, but also vampires and rogue dragons."

Arthur swallowed softly while Aurora continued her rant.

"Secondly, I sent you a scroll detailing every danger and consequence that could accompany a visit to Transylvania, so why the hell did you ignore my warning.

Thirdly, Charlie, if you knew there was a very dominant rouge male dragon running loose in the preserve, why the hell did you think it was a good idea to take the family for a tour of the preserve. That bastard would have attacked and killed every single human he found.

And lastly, you never, _ever_ , bring your pregnant girlfriend anywhere near a living dragon, they can smell a pregnant woman from miles away. The males will try to eat her and the females will kill her to destroy any possible competition for their young."

There fell a deathly silence over the clearing until Molly roared, "CHARLES WEASLEY, IS THAT TRUE?"

Joanna was shocked awake by Molly's roaring voice and tried to sit up but Charlie kept her down while he answered calmly, "I don't know mother. Joanna told me this afternoon that she had been feeling sick for the last week and we had planned to visit a healer tomorrow to find out what was wrong with her."

This shut Molly up for the moment and Charlie turned towards Aurora and asked, "What makes you think that Joanna is pregnant?"

Gabrielle was the one to answer though and she said, "We _know_ that she is pregnant because we can smell it, also we can sense a new life growing inside her. I would say she is about a week along so it is still very early."

The Weasleys were all silent and Joanna looked at Charlie with an expression that was somewhere between hope and excitement. She next turned towards Aurora and Gabrielle and asked on a softer tone, "Excuse me, but who are you and who are the ones that saved us?"

Aurora smiled to Joanna and said, "My name is Aurora Emrys, of the house of Merlin and this is my wife Gabrielle. We are Harry's adoptive parents and also the supreme commanders of the Shadow Legion. The ones who saved you are the Black Angels, our Black Ops team. The giant Russian is Ivan Rostock, their commander and the other one is Dan Granger, Hermione's father."

Dan and Ivan nodded in greeting towards Joanna, as they had already met the others during the Christmas party last year.

Joanna had recovered a bit from the shock and said with a hint of curiosity, "Shadow Legion you say, we have a legend here in Transylvania about them."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked intrigued and Joanna continued. "According to the legend, the Shadow Legion was sent here by the Vatican to bring a halt to the ruthless advance of the vampire king Vlad the Impaler.

After a ruthless war and several extremely bloody battles, the Shadow Legion finally defeated the vampire king and destroyed his army."

"That is a lie." A cold voice with a slight musical tone to it spoke from the darkness.

"They have never defeated me." A man stepped from the shadows, he was dressed in shining steel armor under a black cape and armed with dual swords strapped to his hips. He was followed by an entourage of 12 other armored vampires.

"They have never defeated me. We fought each other to a standstill and reached a truce. Which apparently has been broken."

The man looked with a calculating look at Aurora and Gabrielle. Aurora ordered the Black Angels to lower their weapons, which they had immediately aimed at the unknown man, and turned to the man.

"It has been a long time, Vlad."

Author's note:

Yes, yes I know another cliffhanger I just love writing those but If I hadn't cut it off here, it might have gone on for another five- or six-thousand words and that's just too long in my opinion.

Don't worry though all the questions that might have been raised by this chapter will be answered in the next chapter.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak


	11. Chapter 11

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 11

 _The man looked with a calculating look at Aurora and Gabrielle. Aurora ordered the Black Angels to lower their weapons, which they had immediately aimed at the unknown man, and turned to the man._

" _It has been a long time, Vlad."_

"Indeed it has Aurora, Gabrielle, you two look well."

"Thank you Vlad, we are well." Gabrielle replied. "Allow me to introduce you to the reason of our unexpected visit to your lands." She ushered the quartet forward until they were standing between her and Aurora and indicating them each in turn she said, "This is our adoptive son, Harry, and his three best friends, which we also consider family, Hermione Granger, Fleur Delacour and Ginny Weasley."

The kids each bowed in greeting and Gabrielle continued, "Kids, meet king Vladislaus the First, ruler of the vampire clans and more commonly known as Count Dracula."

At this Vlad bowed to the others before he said, "Nice to meet you, however the circumstances could have been better." This last was said with a pointed look at Aurora and Gabrielle who acknowledged this fact with a nod.

"You are completely right Vlad," Aurora replied, "but please allow me to explain the circumstances as there was no deliberate breaking of the treaty from our side."

Vlad inclined his head and motioned for Aurora to continue which she promptly did. "The kids had been staying with Ginny's parents for a few weeks when they planned to surprise them and take them to visit one of Ginny's brothers, who works here at the preserve. They were unaware of the circumstances concerning our treaty and as a consequence they cannot be held responsible.

When they went to visit the preserve they were ambushed by Marcus, who as always drew conclusions before knowing the facts, and all they did was defend themselves against an unprovoked attack.

When Marcus was about to decapitate my son, our Black Angels were forced to take action and neutralized most of his party. They were all shot with tranquilizers, so except for Marcus, no one got injured."

Vlad had a small grin on his face and asked with a hint of amusement in his voice, "What happened to Marcus?"

Aurora snapped her fingers and two of the Black Angels dragged Marcus before Vlad. The broken sword was still stuck in his chest but the wound was hardly bleeding, one of the advantages of not having a heart beat.

Vlad made a 'tut tut' sound while he looked down at his second in command. He bent over and pulled the broken sword from Marcus' chest. He tossed the blade to one of his followers before pulling a flask from his belt and emptying the watery contents on Marcus' face.

The wounded vampire woke with a startled sound and groaned softly before Vlad said, "Please stop making a fool of yourself Marcus, that wound should already be nearly healed by now so stop whining."

Marcus immediately opened his eyes when he heard Vlad's voice and quickly kneeled before him while saying, "Forgive me my lord, I tried to uphold the treaty but I failed. They ambushed us and I don't know what happened to the others."

Vlad looked down on Marcus with a look that held the middle between disappointment and disgust as he said, "No Marcus, you did not try to uphold the treaty, you tried to break the treaty."

"M… my… my Lord." Sputtered Marcus.

"That is enough Marcus." Vlad replied coolly. "Did you ask what they were doing here? Did you ask who they were? Did you give them a chance to explain themselves?" Vlad didn't give Marcus any time to respond as he kept going.

"The treaty only says that the Legion cannot send an armed force into our lands with the intent to kill us. They are allowed to visit our lands with peaceful intentions and have every right to defend themselves if they are the victims of an unprovoked attack.

You are lucky that Aurora and Gabrielle have ordered their soldiers to only use tranquilizers, if any of my followers had died under your orders, the punishment would have been… severe."

Marcus swallowed before objecting, "But my Lord, they did send a deliberate attack force into our lands."

"BE SILENT MARCUS." Roared Vlad before continuing on a normal tone. "As I already said, they have a right to defend themselves. And if that includes sending an armed rescue party to save their own people who ended up in our lands by mistake, then they are allowed to do so."

Marcus nodded softly and kept his mouth shut while Vlad continued. "You will wake the others, and take them back to the castle. You will make sure they stay there until I return and we will discuss this later. Now get out of my sight."

Marcus scrambled onto his feet and quickly ran towards the pile of his knocked-out brethren and started waking them up. When they were all awake he quickly led them away and they vanished between the trees.

When they were gone Vlad turned towards his guards and said, "Make sure they get to the castle and that they stay there." The twelve armored vampires left without a word and quickly followed Marcus and the others.

Vlad turned back toward the humans and said to Aurora and Gabrielle, "Now if you could send your followers back to their hotel we can discuss the consequences of this day in private."

Aurora nodded and the Black Angels left without a word led by Ivan and Dan. The Weasley's though didn't go and Arthur stepped forward saying, "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I think we have a right to know what is going on here."

Gabrielle turned towards him and looked him straight in his eyes. " _Do not fight us on this Arthur. It could still provoke a war if you do"_ Arthur was shocked to hear the voice in his head and before he could respond she continued. _"We will explain later. Right now you have to take your family and go back to the hotel. Take Harry and the girls with you."_

Arthur swallowed and he felt the hidden undertone of anger in Gabrielle's voice so he decided to do as she said and he quickly led his family back to their hotel. Harry and the girls didn't want to follow him but the looks on Aurora and Gabrielle's faces made them go, though it was reluctantly.

When only Aurora, Gabrielle and Vlad were left on the clearing, Gabrielle cut the branches of off two of the fallen trees and dragged them across from each other. Aurora and Gabrielle sat down on one and Vlad on the other.

When they were all seated Aurora began, "I'm sorry for causing you problems Vlad, we had sent Molly and Arthur a message warning them not to take the kids here but somehow they either didn't get it, or they chose to ignore it, either way we'll get to the bottom of it and the guilty will be punished."

Vlad nodded in acceptance and replied, "It doesn't really matter. The problems were there already, this just made them more apparent."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle said, "How is Marcus behaving at court?"

Vlad shook his head and said, "It has only gotten worse over the last century. Unfortunately, I'm amongst only a few of my kind who recognize the importance of the treaty. I know that if it should come to a war, then not only your Legion, but also the muggles have the weapons to destroy us with ease.

Marcus and those like-minded to him are angry that we have to stay in the shadows and only feed as much as we need to survive. I have had to destroy several covens in the last three decades alone, over two-hundred vampires in total, because they ignored the treaty and killed muggles after feeding on them."

Aurora nodded and said, "We know Vlad, we received your reports about the situations. Do you have any idea if Marcus is planning something?"

To the surprise of the two part-dragons, Vlad actually looked worried when Aurora said this and he said, "I don't really know to be honest. About four years ago, one of my veterans sent me a message saying that he saw Marcus talking with a mysterious person in black robes and with a mask."

At this Aurora and Gabrielle snarled and Gabrielle asked, "Did he say what the mask looked like?"

Vlad sadly shook his head and said, "He didn't, because when I expected him to deliver his report in person, he never showed up. His beheaded corpse was found later that day, not two miles from the castle."

"Did Marcus kill him?" asked Gabrielle a little hesitantly.

Vlad shrugged and replied, "Marcus had been in the castle the whole day so I don't see how, but it is possible that the masked individual did it on Marcus' orders. Point is, Marcus has been getting messages lately but he doesn't mention anything about it so I can't call him out on it."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in recognition of these words and Aurora asked, "Do you think he is planning a coup?"

Vlad shrugged again and replied, "I have no idea but even if I did, there is nothing I can do about it. He has to many followers amongst my people. If I were to arrest him and charge him with high treason, I would have a civil war on my hands and I do not have the strength, or the numbers to win it this time."

Aurora offered, "If you want we could take him out and no one would know you did it."

"That won't work," Vlad replied, "no matter if I had a flawless alibi, they would still suspect me and there are others at court who are less… tactful then Marcus. If he were to die under suspicious circumstances, I would be blamed and they would revolt against me."

They all sat down in silence for a few minutes until Gabrielle said, "If Marcus would manage to overthrow you, what numbers are we dealing with." She recognized the hesitation on Vlad's face and added, "I know your hesitant about this Vlad, but if we are to prevent massive casualties on both sides, we have to know what we are dealing with. If we don't contain the problem when it arises, the U.N.S.C. will issue an extermination order, and if they do we have no choice but to carry it out."

Vlad nodded in acceptance and said, "I know but still… no you're right. If you have this information, then you'll be able to contain the problem. I do not wish the extermination of my entire race but if keeping the peace means having to sacrifice most of them to save the rest then so be it.

As far as I know there are around three-hundred covens all around the world. Only a handful of those are not under my control but those have hidden so deep that I doubt I could find them anyway. Each coven varies in size between fifteen to over two-hundred. I'd put our total number between eighteen- and twenty-thousand. Of those, three-thousand are loyal to me and are the veterans from the war of 1462 A.D., the others have been added over time.

My veterans know what we will be facing, should we go to war with your Legion, but the others are like Marcus, short-sighted, hot-headed and eager to win glory for themselves. They don't know the true cost of war, or they just don't care about it."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in understanding of his words and Gabrielle said, "Did you know that Marcus has his own part in the legends of Transylvania?"

Vlad led out a mirthless laughter and said, "Yes I have heard those, they call him the new Judas. Apparently the remnants of Alexander's army spread the knowledge that Alexander's own son betrayed his father and their allies to join me and lay a trap for your army to walk into."

"Well that part is actually true, he did betray us and join you in preparing an ambush for us."

Vlad grinned at Aurora's words and said, "Aye that part is indeed true. However, I have heard at least a dozen different versions of what happened next. The one most entertaining to me is the one that most resembles the truth.

It says that the leaders of the crusading army turned to the heavens in their desperation to survive my ambush and that God himself changed them in two enormous dragons which drove my army off and won them the day."

It was silent for a few seconds until all three burst out laughing and Gabrielle hiccupped, "Wait they actually believe that, I'm surprised they didn't accuse us of dark magic or devil worshipping."

Vlad gave them a toothy grin and said, "Well those versions also exist, but they are less widely known."

Underneath the trees behind Aurora and Gabrielle they heard a soft 'snap', as if something stepped on a fallen branch and Aurora shook her head in disappointment while Gabrielle said, "You know kids, it's really impolite to disobey your parents and to eavesdrop on a conversation that is clearly not meant for your ears."

Vlad looked at them with a curious look and said, "How did you know they were there, I don't smell them?"

Gabrielle shook her head and said to Vlad, "We sensed them about a minute ago, they didn't hear anything important. I think they were drawn by your laughter about Marcus' place in the legends."

Vlad nodded in understanding and said, "I think that it is their animagus forms that messes up my sense of smell as I cannot smell any humans."

His suspicions were confirmed when the four Fenrirs walked out from under the trees and changed back into four kids with identical guilty expressions on their faces.

"We're sorry mom," they said in unison and Harry added, "We were just curious what you were talking about when you didn't return so we snuck out of the hotel and came back here."

Vlad looked on in amusement while Aurora and Gabrielle shook their heads in an identical move and Gabrielle said. "We are done here anyway so we'll come back with you to the hotel, but know this, you haven't heard the last of this yet."

Harry and the girls all swallowed at this and nodded in silent resignation while Aurora and Gabrielle took their leave from Vlad.

"I'll try to keep you updated about what goes on with Marcus, but my messages might get intercepted so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me."

The two women nodded in return and Gabrielle said softly, so the kids wouldn't hear her, "Be safe Vlad, should it come to open rebellion, and your situation is hopeless, get out of here with the ones you trust and come find us. Every branch of Gringotts can get a hold of us wherever we are, we'll spread the word that they should help you if you come looking for us."

Vlad inclined his head in a sign of goodbye and with a swirl of his cape he changed into a large black bat and flew off between the trees.

Aurora and Gabrielle turned back to the kids with their arms crossed and a stern expression on their faces. Gabrielle was the first to talk and she said, "The next time we see you, the six of us are going to be having a discussion."

The quartet nodded meekly and followed Aurora and Gabrielle back to the hotel.

When they arrived they were awaited by a panicking Molly who screamed as soon as she saw Aurora and Gabrielle, "THE KIDS ARE GONE, THEY SNUCK OUT OF THEIR ROOM."

Aurora and Gabrielle parted so Molly could see the quartet walking behind them and Molly stormed towards them and screamed again, "YOU FOUR ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE. JUST YOU WAIT TILL I'M DONE WITH YOU."

Before Molly could reach them, Aurora and Gabrielle closed ranks again and Aurora said with a thundering voice, "WE WILL DEAL WITH THEM LATER, BUT THEY ARE NOT NEARLY IN AS MUCH TROUBLE AS YOU AND ARTHUR ARE."

This effectively shut Molly up and she looked confused between the furious looks on the faces of Aurora and Gabrielle. "Wha… what do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

"Let's just take this inside shall we." The fake calm tone of Gabrielle made Harry and the girls think back about what Sarah had told them and they decided to sneak off as soon as they could.

When they were back in the hotel they found the other Weasley's, Dan, Ivan and the Black Angels waiting for them in the restaurant. Dan and Ivan needed only one look at the faces of Aurora and Gabrielle to realize the seriousness of the situation and they hurriedly led their team outside to 'go and check the perimeter'.

In the same fake calm tone as before Gabrielle said, "Harry, girls, please get Ginny's brothers and Joanna and go someplace else."

The quartet needed no encouragement and Ginny hissed to her brothers, "Run, _now_."

Charlie quickly picked up Joanna who was still a bit confused about the whole situation and the group ran out of the restaurant to find Dan and Ivan. They were not far before they could hear it start.

When the kids were all gone Aurora and Gabrielle turned towards Arthur and Molly and Aurora roared to them, "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. WHY IN MY FATHER'S NAME HAVE YOU NOT LISTENED TO MY WARNING."

Molly and Arthur were both pale as a corpse and could do nothing but sit and listen as Aurora kept yelling at them.

"IF VLAD HAD BEEN IN A BAD MOOD HE WOULD HAVE BEEN FULLY IN HIS RIGHT TO START A FUCKING WAR, WHICH COULD HAVE COST TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LIVES."

When Aurora stopped yelling Arthur said weakly, "What warning do you mean, we never got a warning from you."

Now it was Aurora and Gabrielle's turn to look pale and Gabrielle said weakly, "What do you mean you never got it? When you sent that letter informing us about the sleeping arrangement at the Burrow, we gave your owl a letter back. That letter described, in detail, everything that could happen if you took the kids to Transylvania."

Molly and Arthur looked at each other and Molly said softly, "It has happened before that Errol, our owl, dumped mail while underway if he thought it was too heavy. You have to understand he is very old so he can't really be held responsible."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle had to open and close their eyes a few times before they had digested what Molly had just said.

"So," began Aurora on a dangerously low tone, "you are saying that that flying feather duster of yours nearly started a war because he thought my letter was too heavy."

Arthur and Molly both nodded and Gabrielle continued speaking, as Aurora seemed to be to angry to continue. "If you know that that owl has a habit of dumping mail, then why on earth are you still using it. I would have thought that you would be able to afford a proper owl now."

Neither Arthur nor Molly had a decent reply on this and Gabrielle continued. "I will send our own owl, Hedwig to you. You can use her until you get a decent owl yourselves."

Aurora nodded in agreement and added in a growl, "And the next time I see that bloody pigeon of yours, I'll wring his neck and feed him to Furya and Argent."

Molly and Arthur swallowed at this, although they had no idea who those were, they could see that Aurora wasn't joking.

With that part of the problem cleared up, Aurora and Gabrielle had calmed down significantly and Gabrielle informed Dan and Ivan to get the others and bring them back inside, they would have a lot of questions.

When Harry and the others had made their way outside they found Dan and Ivan talking softly while the Black Angels had removed their masks and were sitting around several camping tables, talking amongst themselves.

When the group joined them, Dan and Ivan saw from the look on their faces that they were desperate for some answers but Ivan raised his hand to prevent them from asking anything and said, "Hold your questions until Aurora and Gabrielle are done yelling, they will explain everything. They have forbidden us from telling you _anything."_

The group of Weasleys looked a little confused but Harry and the girls knew that it was no use prying for information, as no one would tell them anything if Aurora and Gabrielle had specifically forbidden them to do so.

They waited in silence for several minutes before Dan and Ivan stood up and Dan said, "Okay the coast is clear we can go back in."

The Weasleys and Joanna all ran back inside but the quartet and Dan and Ivan followed them in a more relaxed pace. The Black Angels stayed outside and locked down the entire building and the surrounding area.

When the group had made their way back into the restaurant, they found Gabrielle sitting at the bar while Aurora stood behind it and was filling two large glasses with Firewhisky. Molly and Arthur sat at one of the tables and looked remarkably subdued, as if they had just been on the receiving end of one of Molly's own rants.

The Weasleys took the chairs around their parents while Harry and the girls sat down at the bar next to Gabrielle and Aurora, who had just given her partner one of the glasses with Firewhisky. Dan and Ivan took up positions on either side of the only door and leaned against the wall in a relaxed posture.

Aurora was the first to speak and said, "Now I assume some of you might have some questions, and I promise we'll answer as much as we can. I do hope you will understand that there are things we cannot talk about. However, before we get to that point…"

In the span of a second both Aurora and Gabrielle pulled out their blowguns, put them to their mouths and shot small darts at Ron, Fred, George and Percy.

The other Weasleys sprung up in anger and Arthur roared, "WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING."

Aurora looked not the least bit impressed and said calmly, while placing her blowgun back in its holster, "Saving their lives, Arthur. We just tranquilized them and if you'd all sit down I'll explain."

The Weasleys sat down again, though they didn't seem to be anywhere near calm. Harry and the girls had remained seated as they had recognized the tranquillizer darts sticking out of the chests of the four Weasley brothers and they knew that they were unharmed.

When they were all seated again, Gabrielle began her explanation. "Listen, do you have any idea how many Death Eater children there are at Hogwarts? All it takes is one slip-up, from any of them, and they'll paint a life-sized bulls-eye on their own backs.

Over the past few months we have gotten to know the twins and Percy a little and I regret to tell you that we do not think they'll keep our secrets when they are captured, so the least they know the better it is."

Molly tried to interrupt her and defend her sons but Gabrielle held up her hand and continued, "Percy is way too strict with the rules and very ambitious. He'll rat us out voluntarily if he thinks it'll help him get a nice job at the Ministry, and don't give me that look, you know I'm right.

The twins we do trust but their habit of making a joke out of everything might cause an accidental slip-up and put their own lives at risk.

Ron we don't know but it is better for him to start Hogwarts without knowing anything about us as it'll make it safer for him if he can't tell anything about us, if he is pressured by seniors.

The darts we have shot them with will keep them asleep for at least two hours. When they wake up they'll be in their beds and all they'll know is that after you landed, they went to bed to rest for an hour and overslept.

I will place a memory block in their minds and hide everything they have seen this morning. When they leave Hogwarts and prove themselves trustworthy, I'll remove that block and they will remember everything without any damage done to their brains.

If I find out that any of you told them anything about us, or tried to do so, I'll do the same to you. I don't want to scare you but we simply cannot risk it, for both our safety and theirs."

Now that Gabrielle had explained their reasoning Molly and Arthur agreed with their course of action, it would indeed be far safer to keep them in the dark for now.

Bill had more or less expected the move as it was one that was also used by the goblins to keep people from spreading certain information that was deemed as classified.

Charlie and Joanna where still uncertain about everything and Joanna asked hesitantly, "Are you going to do the same to me?"

Gabrielle shook her head, now with a soft smile tugging at her lips and said, "No we will not, you are both adults and not directly linked to us, since you both work here in Transylvania."

Charlie and Joanna both seemed relieved to hear that, but their hearts fell when Gabrielle continued, "However, I'm afraid that for your own safety, we will have to insist that you both move to Britain. Vlad has made it quite clear that he can no longer guarantee the safety of anyone who is even distantly connected to us. He didn't say it out loud, but it is clear that the vampires are on the brink of a civil war, and one that will not end in our favor."

"Wha...What do you mean?" Joanna asked carefully. "How can we be drawn into a vampire civil war, why not just let them fight it out amongst themselves?"

This time it was Aurora who answered and she said, "Have you ever heard of 'The War of 1462'?"

Joanna nodded and replied, "Of course I have. Everyone in my country knows of it. A mysterious plague swept over our land and killed three of every four people. When the plague was over then came the war, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of the survivors of the plague."

Aurora softly shook her head at this explanation and said, "That is the muggle version, I mean the _true_ version."

Joanna swallowed softly before she answered with a soft voice, "We are forbidden to talk about it. The Transylvanian Ministry of Magic has made it taboo to talk about it."

At this both Aurora and Gabrielle rolled their eyes and Aurora muttered softly, "Well I guess we should have expected that."

"I'm sorry," Joanna replied a bit confused, "I do not know what you mean by that."

Aurora shook her head again and looking Joanna directly into her eyes she said, "We know what really happened during the War of 1462, because we were there. We are the ones who led the allied armies against Vlad's vampire forces."

Joanna went white as a sheet and suddenly something seemed to 'click' in her mind as she stared from the armor of Aurora and Gabrielle, to their masks which hung on their belts, and then to the masks of Dan and Ivan, which were also hanging from the designated hooks on their belts while they were still leaning against the wall next to the door.

"You… you… you…"

That was all Joanna could say before Gabrielle nodded and replied, "Yes, we are the Dark Angels. We are the ones who fought Vlad to a standstill and we are the ones who are responsible for destroying your society, as punishment for their indifference to the suffering of the muggle population."

At that last part all the others looked up and Harry asked, "Ehh what do you mean, destroying their society?"

Aurora turned to Harry and said on a serious tone, "We have told you four much of what we have done, but not everything Harry, not by a long shot. Over the last fourteen-hundred years, we have brought down dozens upon dozens of corrupt governments. The British Ministry alone has had to been 'removed from power' thirteen times.

In this case we had sent the Transylvanian Ministry of Magic a letter warning them that, if they did not put a stop to Vlad's campaign, or at least ask for foreign help and try to minimize muggle casualties, we would come and stop him, after which we would install a new government. They didn't listen and left the muggles to suffer.

That war cost the lives of more than three-hundred-thousand innocent people and we decided that it would be fitting to let the magical community endure what they had condemned the muggles to endure and we set an example for the rest of the world. We exterminated their ministry and destroyed their entire society. What we destroyed in two days, it took them four-hundred years to rebuild to the same level as they had had before the war."

By this point the still conscious Weasley's were all looking white as ghosts and Joanna was trembling with fear in Charlie's arms. Harry and the girls were likewise having a hard time coming to term with this. They had known that Aurora and Gabrielle had done some less than savory things, but they had not expected something of this scale.

"So you could be considered…" Harry was almost afraid to finish that sentence but Aurora did it for him.

"Yes Harry, Gabrielle and I, along with the Legion could be considered amongst, if not _the_ greatest mass murderers in history. The magical world calls us Death's Angels, a title we more than deserve. However, we are far from saints. We're not demons either but we do what we have to in order to do our duty.

We have committed countless acts that would qualify as war crimes and we could reasonably be called terrorists by the magical community. However, we never killed if we could avoid it. We only do what we must to ensure the safety of the muggle world from the dangers of magic."

Gabrielle nodded at this and at seeing the pale faces of the Weasleys and even the hint of disgust in Joanna's case, she added, "We want you to understand that we do not like hurting people, but we often are not left with any other choice.

Every now and then we are forced to remind the magical community that we are more than capable of destroying them if we have to. It is unfortunate that so many had to suffer for the faults of a few but that is often the case in war."

The group nodded softly but didn't reply for a while until Fleur asked a little hesitantly, "How… how did you manage to destroy an entire magical community in such a short time. I thought you just said that most of your army was killed in the war with Vlad.

Gabrielle looked at the kids and replied, "We have always had very good relations with the goblins Fleur. Gringotts seized all the vaults of the Transylvanian government and we led our remaining Legionnaires on a rampage through their ministry building, killing everyone we found. At the same time a force of goblin warriors destroyed all magical communities that we knew of.

We never counted the corpses but we estimate that a full three quarters of the magical population died during those two days."

"So you are responsible for the suffering of my country," Joanna said in an accusing tone.

Neither Aurora nor Gabrielle looked in the least impressed by her accusation and Aurora said, "No we are not. Your government decided to ignore our warning so we had no choice but to act on our threat."

It was Charlie who asked, "But what gives you the right to make such threats in the first place?"

To the surprise of everyone else, it was Bill who answered this question. "They have that right because it is their job to protect the muggle population against any conceivable magical threat. During a job in Istanbul I found scrolls in an ancient tomb, detailing a contract between the then roman emperor, and what they called, the Angels of Death.

The contract spoke of an agreement between these 'Angels' and the Eastern Roman emperor. It said that the 'Angels' would keep the magical population loyal to the emperor, and in return the emperor would pay them an amount of 10,000 pounds of gold and 25,000 pounds of silver once every five years. It was heavily implied that such arrangements existed with other nations at that time."

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at that and Aurora said with a little longing in her voice, "Yea… those were the good old days. The Legion was feared throughout the magical world and every muggle monarch paid us handsomely to keep their magical population under control. Those days laid the base of the Legion's wealth and enabled us to build the London HQ when we were driven from Avalon."

"That is all very interesting," interrupted Joanna a bit rudely, "but it does not explain why a civil war amongst the vampires would not end in our favor."

Aurora looked at Joanna with raised eyebrows and said, "That plague you were speaking of was actually a cover up to explain the casualties of Vlad's rise to power and the civil war that followed as he tried to gain dominance over all the vampire covens."

Gabrielle nodded and continued, "Indeed and luckily for us, Vlad has realized that another war with either our Legion, or the muggle population would end in the complete destruction of his race. Unfortunately, the one who attacked you, Marcus, is convinced that it is the right of the vampires to rule over both the muggles and the magicals, and that they have the power to do so.

His ambition has caused his followers to multiply and his faction far outnumbers the followers of Vlad. What's more is that we know for a fact that the Death Eaters have been talking with the vampire covens and if they contact Marcus, it is likely that he will attempt a coup and declare war on us the moment Voldemort returns.

Even if that does not happen, it is likely that Marcus will want revenge for what happened today and treaty or not, he'll most likely target you two, as you were there. So for your own safety and that of the baby, we strongly advise you to move back to England. I can talk with Lord MacFusty about employing you at the British preserve, he owes us a few favors so he'll have no choice but to agree."

Charlie and Joanna nodded in acceptance of what Gabrielle had said and Charlie said, "We'll tell our supervisor that we want to return to Britain because of the baby and terminate our contract as soon as possible."

Charlie hugged Joanna tightly when he talked about the baby and she looked at him with nothing but love on her face.

With that matter closed Charlie turned towards Aurora and Gabrielle and asked, "What I don't understand is why you knocked out my brothers, but let those four sit here and listen to everything even though they are younger than Fred, George and Percy."

Aurora looked back with a look of pride on her face and said, "We are telling them this, and a whole lot more which we are not telling you, because they need to know it Charlie. When Voldemort returns, the world will be facing a war the likes of which hasn't been seen since Grindelwald. And when that war begins, these four will stand right next to us. On the front lines of the Legion, facing the hordes of darkness head-on.

We have been training them for months and when the time comes, they'll be ready for war. Their animagus forms are only the first step and we have many more to teach them."

"Wait," interrupted Bill, "Now that you mention their animagus forms, are they registered with the Ministry? Because if not they will be in a whole lot of trouble when the Ministry does find out. And besides that, what kind of creatures are they, as I have never seen wolves the likes of them."

Aurora, Gabrielle and the quartet grinned and Ginny answered, "Our forms are called Fenrirs, Bill, Harry has the shape of Ragnarok, a creature from Norse legends and the three of us have the shapes of Ragnarok's sisters, the Valkyries."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded at this as the Weasleys were all staring in disbelief. They had heard of the legends around Ragnarok and his sisters but had thought them to be nothing but legends.

"And to answer your other question Bill," Gabrielle spoke again while she handed a small black leather folding badge to each of the four kids besides her. "We received these just this morning. We had to pull some strings but these are your official identification badges. You're to keep them with you at all times and for heaven's sake don't show them to anyone who doesn't have to see them. Also make sure you do not lose them, as the consequences would be… unpleasant."

The kids opened the badges and saw that they contained a card on the left side, with a picture and personal information like, name and date of birth. But also things like, blood group, relationship status and a small black paw in the lower right corner indicating they were registered animagi. Next to relationship status it said that they were all engaged, as that was the case for as far as the rest of the world was concerned.

On the right of the badge was a small, steel emblem that showed the winged skull of the Legion above a small rectangle of the same metal with in black the words, ' _Officer in training'_ above their respective names.

The quartet got identical ear-to-ear grins and said as one, "Cool,"

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at their reaction and Aurora said, "Yea I know. These are valid in both the magical and muggle world and are only to be shown when you are in serious trouble. We'll also get you some simple I.D. cards to use in the muggle world as those are fairly easy to make using magic. In the magical world you are not required to have any kind of identification with you."

The quartet nodded and put their new badges away while Aurora and Gabrielle turned towards Bill, Charlie and Joanna. Gabrielle was the one who spoke and she said, "We're sorry to ask this of you but we will require a magical oath from each of you so you cannot speak of anything you have witnessed or heard today to others."

The tone on which she said this made it clear that this was not really a question but more an order, so they all complied without objections.

When that was done Harry was the first to speak and asked, "Mom, what exactly are the Black Angels and why aren't they dressed in the normal Legion uniforms?"

At this there came a soft chuckle from the door as both Dan and Ivan had been waiting for that question and couldn't wait to hear Aurora and Gabrielle explain it to the kids.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle got a somewhat wry smile and Aurora said, "After a little incident during the first day of the holiday, Elizabeth decided that we should have our own personal bodyguard. Not to walk behind us all day long, but just to accompany us on missions and to guard our backs in battle. The Black Angels are those bodyguards. And what they are wearing are the prototypes of the new generation of EXO suits.

As you guys know the Mark 1 Centurion, proved to be a failure so I have ordered Boltrock to keep developing them and to create a better version. He has made two, this one, the new Mark 7-Spartan, and a heavier version which is still in development called the Mark 9."

Harry and the girls nodded in understanding and Fleur asked, "What happened to the Mark 8?"

"It blew up," Arthur replied, to the surprise of the others, "Quite literally actually, I believe maintenance still hasn't filled the crater it struck on the testing ground."

"Wait a moment," said Charlie with sudden understanding on his face, "you mean that that new job of yours is with them?"

Arthur nodded and replied, "Yes indeed, I'm working directly with the head of their weapons research division, and am somewhat responsible for creating those armor suits."

Bill, Charlie, Joanna and the quartet were all looking wide-eyed at Arthur and said, "What did you think I was doing there, paperwork?"

This broke them out of their trance and Bill asked curiously, "So how do those suits work?"

Arthur cleared his throat and said, "Mister Rostock, could you join us for a moment."

Ivan nodded and headed over to them where he sat in the chair Arthur indicated for him. The quartet and Bill, Charlie and Joanna gathered around Ivan and Arthur. Arthur began his explanation under their rapt attention. He indicated various parts of the suit Ivan was wearing while explaining what they did.

Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Molly stood somewhat to the side, the first three because they already knew how the suits worked and Molly didn't really care that much.

"This suit is the result of a combination of muggle technology, goblin forging and engineering, and magic. It is powered by a small Dragon-stone, a kind of inexhaustible battery. Unlike with the Mark 1, the Mark 7 and Mark 9 are not separate pieces from the Legion masks, but rather they are integrated with the masks' operating system. Each suit is custom fitted to the individual's nerve-system so it flawlessly follows the motions of their muscles.

In simpler terms, you think it, the suit does it. The suits will make you run faster, jump higher, and it enhances the overall strength of the wearer's body. Mister Rostock here is very strong himself but without the added strength of the suit, he would not have been able to break off a sword or slam a vampire fifteen feet backwards with a single hand.

I won't bore you with the specifics of how the suits work, but let me just say that it will allow an unarmed Legionnaire to go toe-to-toe with a werewolf or a vampire and have a good chance of surviving it, if not necessarily winning it.

The Mark 9, which is still in development is meant to serve as a heavy assault suit. This means it is about the size of Hagrid, and carries a built in flame-thrower on the left arm. They are equipped with heavy armor plating and if well armed, won't have a problem with taking on a mountain troll head-on."

The kids were very impressed and turning to Aurora and Gabrielle they said as one, "Mom, can we have one?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared a single look before they turned back to the kids and replied in unison, "No,"

Author's note:

I hope this chapter answers all question that were raised by the last one.

Allow me to explain a few things to avoid confusion and something else that has been brought to my attention;

Vlad is not exactly an ally of Aurora and Gabrielle, he is merely an acquaintance who shares their interests and so they work together to keep the peace.

Vlad is the only vampire who is able to turn into a bat. This is because he was an animagus before he was turned and he has retained his ability to change into his animagus form, which is a bat.

In contrast to werewolves, who can be both magical and muggle, only magicals can be turned into vampires. If a muggle is infected with vampirism they will die. Furthermore, the magical must willingly and knowingly be infected otherwise they'll go feral and die within days if they aren't put down before that.

The incident Aurora and Gabrielle meant was what happened in the first two chapters of this part. Only the upper command of the Legion, which does include both Dan and Ivan, are aware of the little time-travelling they did.

The muggle world is completely aware of the existence of the Legion, although they know it under the name of the United Nations Special Forces. Their existence has been made public when the Legion got the support of the U.N.S.C, as it would make it easier for commander Anderson and the other Legion recruiters to explain their presence when they were scouting for possible recruits.

In the muggle world, any Legionnaire stands above their normal counterparts in terms of authority. Aurora, Gabrielle and Anderson have the authority to call entire muggle army divisions to arms when the situation calls for it, but no muggle officer, no matter what rank he has, can give orders to a Legionnaire.

I hope this answers all the questions, if not please let me know so I can answer them in the next update.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 12

 _The kids were very impressed and turning to Aurora and Gabrielle they said as one, "Mom, can we have one?"_

 _Aurora and Gabrielle shared a single look before they turned back to the kids and replied in unison, "No,"_

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny all looked very disappointed by the resolute answer and Harry asked, "Why not?"

"Because," Gabrielle explained, "you guys already have armor and the EXO's are not designed to be worn by children. Maybe in time, we'll see about getting you fitted for EXO's but not for a few years at least."

The kids nodded a little sadly and Fleur asked, "Mama, there is something I don't completely understand."

Fleur seemed to hesitate to continue but did so when Aurora and Gabrielle smiled encouragingly to her. "I have always thought that the Legion was a gender equal unit?"

The two women nodded and Gabrielle said, "It is indeed why do you ask?"

"Well," Fleur said a little encouraged by their response, "then why are the Black Angels all men?"

Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan, Ivan and Arthur all burst out laughing and after a minute Ivan said, "We are not all men Fleur. In fact the Black Angels are formed by twenty-five men and twenty-five women."

"But then why are there no women with you?" asked Fleur confused.

"Because we have a little problem with the chest plates of the female version of the Mark 7. The differences in build between men and women make it impossible to make one universal version of the suits."

Arthur's explanation did not seem to make much sense to the kids and recognizing their plight, Gabrielle said, "There are no women with them because we do not let our soldiers go out without the proper equipment. Women have breasts, and thus they do not fit in the male version of the chest plates. So we left them at the island and only brought the men as they were already fitted with the EXO's."

Fleur nodded in understanding while Aurora turned towards Arthur and Molly and said, "Maybe it would be best if we got those four to bed and made the necessary changes to their memories, before they wake up and we have to start this thing all over again."

Molly still seemed a little hesitant to allow anyone to mess with the minds of her sons but Gabrielle said, "Do not worry Molly, I have done this literally thousands of times and there have never been any unwanted side-effects."

When Molly finally relented, the group of adults made it a joint effort to carry the four unconscious boys back to their rooms. The quartet followed behind them and while they were underway Harry asked to Aurora, "Mom is it safe for us to stay in Transylvania, or do you think we should return to Britain as soon as possible?"

Aurora shared a look with Gabrielle before she replied, "We are not sure Harry. I doubt Marcus will have the guts to try something while you are here, but we have to get back to Avalon soon. I would leave a lot easier if I knew you were back in Britain where you are as safe as you can be."

Arthur and Charlie who were walking just ahead of them heard this and Arthur said, "Don't worry, I have no intention of staying here any longer than necessary, now that I know what dangers this land holds. We'll be leaving in the morning so we don't draw suspicion from the boys."

Charlie nodded in acceptance of his father's words and added, "Joanna and I will probably follow in a few days time. We have to gather all our possessions and hand in our resignations to our supervisor."

Aurora nodded in agreement and said, "Tomorrow morning I'll send a letter of recommendation to Lord MacFusty so you'll be able start whenever you want."

Charlie thanked her with a dip of his head and returned to his task of carrying his brother.

When the four unconscious brothers had all been returned to their rooms Gabrielle went past them one-by-one and placing her hands on their heads she put the memory blocks in place and planted the false memory of them going to sleep after they had arrived.

When she was done, Aurora and her went back to the restaurant where the others had gone back to after dropping the four boys off at their room.

"They should wake up in about half an hour but I suggest that you wake them up yourselves to strengthen the illusion of them oversleeping." Arthur and Molly nodded at Gabrielle's words and Molly headed upstairs to wake the boys.

Aurora turned to Charlie and said, "O before I forget, I'll send a team by later today to pick up the dragon's corpse." At Charlie's confused look she added, "International rules remember, I killed it, so I can claim it."

Charlie nodded and said, "I'll pass the message over to my supervisor and I'll try to keep the others away from the corpse." Aurora nodded in thanks and turned back to her own group.

Meanwhile Gabrielle, Dan and Ivan had said goodbye to the kids before taking their leave and collecting the rest of the Black Angels. Aurora quickly said goodbye as well and joined the others outside. When the group was complete Gabrielle took a piece of rope from a pouch and handed it out. When they had all grabbed it the group vanished, leaving no trace of their presence behind, except for a humongous dead dragon laying only half a mile from the hotel.

When Molly came back down with Ron, Fred, George and Percy behind her, they all had a little sheepish expression and when they reached the restaurant Percy said while covering a yawn with his hand, "We're so sorry guys we kind of overslept. Hope we didn't interrupt any plans."

Those who were waiting for them in the restaurant all had a knowing grin on their faces when Arthur replied, "Nah don't worry boys, we didn't do anything interesting this morning. Just some sightseeing around the preserve. Nothing you haven't seen before, just a lot of trees."

Ron, Fred, George and Percy looked relieved and to break the awkwardness Harry said, "So when's dinner? I'm so hungry I could eat a whole dragon."

The girls burst out laughing at this and soon the others joined them.

The rest of that day was spent just relaxing in and around the hotel with Harry and the girls sneaking off after the others had gone to bed. They had too much adrenaline still in their body's to be able to sleep so they decided to sneak out and explore the preserve on their own.

They snuck out of the hotel and as soon as they had left they changed into their Fenrir forms and quickly vanished between the trees. With their heightened sense of smell they were able to pick up a familiar smell which they couldn't really place.

Deciding to investigate it they headed into the direction where the dragon had gone down and within moments they neared the well lid clearing. Stopping just outside the circle of light they studied the mass of activity on the clearing.

Dozens upon dozens of goblins were working on and around the giant carcass. They could see a familiar goblin standing on the neck of the slain monster. Sharpknife was wielding a massive cleaver to cut large pieces of meat from the already skinned corpse.

Barrels filled with still steaming dragon blood stood around the clearing and blood drenched the ground surrounding the corpse. Large chests with ice were filled with pieces of dragon meat and taken away to a pile underneath the trees.

The smell of blood and raw meat entered their sensitive noses and unable to restrain their instincts they slowly made their way into the clearing until they were spotted by several of the goblins.

Within seconds they were surrounded by a thicket of gleaming spears and vicious looking goblins.

A harsh voice yelled something in gobbledygook and the spears were lowered but the goblins remained on guard. Sharpknife pushed his way through the mass of goblins until he stood before the quartet.

He was sporting a wicked grin and said laughing, "Hello there, Aurora already told me that I should be expecting a visit from you four. Why don't you change back so we can have a decent conversation?"

Harry and the girls shifted back into their human forms and the threatening looks from the goblins vanished as they recognized the quartet. Many of the goblins around them where ones they had met during their memorable 'internship' at Gringotts. Apparently Aurora had hired the butcher team from the bank to dismember the dragon carcass.

Sharpknife led them towards the blood-drenched grass upon which the dragon lay and said to the kids, "You guys want to have a try at it? Trust me it is very satisfying."

He barked an order in gobbledygook and four goblins came walking their way with large broadaxes in their hands. They handed one of the axes to each of the kids and Sharpknife took up his large cleaver again.

He led them towards the neck of the carcass and showed them what they had seen him doing before. He cut away large pieces of dragon meat which were collected by other goblins and put into the ice-filled chests.

When he had cut off most of the meat he handed his cleaver to one of his subordinates and received a broadaxe in return. Having them take a good stance, he showed the kids how to properly hold and swing the large heavy axe before directing them to the massive spine that laid before them.

"If you can properly handle the axe, and have enough strength, you can severe the vertebrae of a dragon with a single swing like this." He took a firm stance, grabbed the axe in both hands and swung it past his right shoulder and over his head straight into the spine of the dragon. It landed precisely between two of the vertebrae and went clean through.

The now severed skull of the dragon rolled away from the rest of the carcass and was quickly picked up by a dozen goblins who put it in a truly massive chest filled with ice. Sharpknife saw their curious looks and said to the kids, "We have to keep the skull as cold as possible during transportation. The brain of a dragon is a very exclusive delicacy amongst goblins and it is quick to rot if not properly cooled down."

With a curious expression on her face Fleur asked, "Exactly how exclusive is it Sharpknife?"

The goblin grinned and said, "I don't know about this one, as Ironbellys aren't that rare a breed, but Lord Ragnok served Norwegian Ridgeback at his coronation feast which is very rare. I know for a fact that your mothers were the ones who hunted one down for him and he paid them five-hundred-thousand Galleons for the fifty pounds of brain."

The kids were surprised at this amount and Ginny asked, "Exactly how much is a dragon corpse worth?"

"Depends on the size," replied Sharpknife, "I'm estimating this one at between seven and nine million Galleons. The most expensive dragon carcass that I know of was sold about five years ago. It was a rogue female Hungarian Horntail of 53 feet which was sold for eighteen million Galleons. If I'm not mistaken its horn-crown was used for the handles of those knives of yours with its hide being used for the sheaths."

The kids looked amazed at this and Harry drew the knife from where it hung on the left upper leg plate of his armor. He handed it to Sharpknife and asked, "How much are these worth in your opinion?"

Sharpknife looked suspicious and Harry added quickly, "I'll never sell it, I'm just curious."

Sharpknife nodded slowly and studied the blade minutely before grasping it in his right hand and dragging its serrated edge across one of the vertebrae before him. It sliced through it like a saw and revealed the marrow filled inside of the bone.

Sharpknife made some approving sounds before handing the knife back to Harry. "Considering the excellent craftsmanship and the Legion mark on it, I'd say it's the work of Master Backsmith Steelbreaker. His work is highly sought after and such a knife could easily be sold for say eighty-thousand Galleons a piece."

Their jaws dropped open and they looked between the knife in Harry's hands and the serious expression on Sharpknife's face.

"Wow," was all Harry could say.

The others were silent until Hermione said, "But if one such knife is worth so much, then how much does a goblin-forged sword cost?"

Sharpknife let out a barking laugh before he said, "A Goblin-forged sword is not _bought_ kids, it is _earned_. Most of the ancient wizarding families have their own family sword, many of which have been in their family for hundreds of years. All of those have been earned by a family member at some time and since goblin-forged steel does not dull or rust or is by anyway affected by time or magic, such weapons are considered invaluable.

Amongst goblins it is customary that a warrior receives a blade from the head of his family or clan. Upon the warrior's death, that sword is placed back in their family vault until another comes along and receives it at the end of their training."

The kids nodded in understanding and Harry put the knife away again.

Sharpknife redirected their attention to the broadaxes and he ordered them to try and cut through the vertebrae in one swing, just as he had done.

Harry was the first to try, using all his strength he was just able to lift the heavy axe to shoulder height before he had to swing it down and landed the axe _on_ a vertebrae, instead of _between_ them.

The axe got stuck in the bone and no matter what he tried, he couldn't pry it loose. Sharpknife let him struggle with it for over a minute before he felt a bit of sympathy as the girls were all laughing.

"Step aside Harry, I'll get it out for you." Sharpknife grabbed Harry's axe with his left hand while raising his own axe with his right hand. Bringing it down hard he struck the handle of the axe and it came loose in his left hand. He handed the axe back to Harry before he motioned for one of the girls to try.

Ginny was the first and she stepped forward, she was able to raise the axe to a few inches below her shoulder before she brought it down on the dragons neck. It hit the correct place but there was not sufficient force behind the axe-head to cut through. It got stuck about a third on the way and she pulled it back to try again.

"No," interrupted Sharpknife her attempt, "I said in _one_ swing." Ginny nodded disappointedly and stepped aside to make place for Fleur.

Fleur managed to get about half-way through and Hermione who came last hit the bone just as Harry had done, but in her case the blade glanced aside and was nearly torn from her grip.

They were all a bit put out by the fact that none of them managed to do what the goblin did with ease despite the fact that Sharpknife was about a foot and a half shorter than them.

Sharpknife noticed their looks and said, "Don't be so disappointed in yourselves, I have more than four decades of experience with this and you are not even fully grown yet. I expect that if you try again next summer it'll be easy for you."

The kids were a little cheered up by this and Sharpknife allowed them to try again and they could take as many swings as they had to. Harry needed two, Fleur and Ginny each needed three and Hermione four, because she missed one swing and hit the bone again.

Afterwards Sharpknife led them to the claws of the dragon while three other goblins took their places and began to chop the spine apart. Sharpknife showed them the entire dismemberment process until the goblins reached the organs.

The organs were each carefully cut loose from the surrounding tissue and placed in separate ice-filled chests. "Those will be dried later and cut into pieces to be sold as potion ingredients," Sharpknife explained, "along with the claws and horns, which will be powdered down or sent to the bone carvers to be turned into jewelry or weapon handles."

It took eighty-five goblins just under four hours to cut the entire carcass to pieces and clear the clearing of any trace of their presence. They even managed to draw the blood from the ground and collect it in separate barrels to be refined later on.

Shortly before midnight Sharpknife was one of the last goblins still on the clearing as he said goodbye to the kids, "I need to be going now. It was nice to see you four again but we have to go, we only had till midnight to cut the carcass to pieces, so we are cutting it close. I would suggest that you return to the hotel as it is not safe here for you.

Our presence has ensured your safety until now, not even Marcus would be arrogant enough to risk a war with Gringotts, but you should be safe at the hotel for now. Take care of yourselves." He gave each of them a hand before adding, "Now off with you, get to the hotel as soon as possible."

He was the last goblin to grab a hold of the last rope-portkey and when his hand touched the rope the group vanished.

Harry and the girls shifted into their Fenrir forms again and quickly made their way back to the hotel.

The next morning they were awoken shortly after 8 A.M. by Molly who stuck her head around the door and said, "Wake up kids, breakfast is ready and we're all waiting for you so hurry up, you can get dressed afterwards."

The kids grumbled a little, they hadn't fallen asleep until 2 A.M., but got out of bed none-the-less. After each digging their bathrobes from their trunks, they put them on and slowly made their way downstairs to the restaurant.

When they got there they saw the others were also dressed in their pajamas with the exception of Molly and Arthur who were already dressed.

When they had sat down Ginny said with a yawn, "So whaaaaaaa… sorry, what are our plans for today."

Arthur was the one who answered and said, "Well since we have done what we came here for, namely showing Harry, Hermione and Fleur the preserve, we are heading back home before lunch. We'll spend the rest of the week at Weasley Manor and maybe you guys can invite some of your friends to come over. I'm sure Luna would be very glad to see you again Ginny."

Ginny nodded at her father's words and explained to Harry, Hermione and Fleur, "Luna was my best friend while growing up. She's a few months younger than me so she'll be starting Hogwarts this year in the same class as Ron."

"Oh great," groaned Ron, "Loony is going to be in my year."

"Don't call her Loony, Ron," snarled Ginny. "She is not mad she's just different." That last part was said to Harry and the other two girls who sat beside her.

Ron grumbled a little but didn't say anything else as he was in a crossfire of stern gazes from Ginny, Molly and Arthur.

The rest of breakfast was spent with idle conversation and when it was over they all headed back to their rooms to get dressed. Harry and the girls had slept in their armor and they were relieved to take it off for a moment, even if it was only to take a shower. They took their turns in the shower while the others sat down on bed reading a book or playing chess.

When they were all done they headed back to the restaurant to find the others waiting already waiting. Charlie and Joanna would show them around town that morning so they headed outside and made their way towards the town.

It was not much more than a single street with a few side alley's and it contained perhaps fifty or sixty buildings in total, eight of which were shops and another was a café. After showing them around the town, Charlie led them towards one of the shops with a rusted sign in the shape of a dragon head that eerily squeaked in the wind.

He led them inside and they were welcomed by a short man with an immense belly and a thick curly beard but a bald head. "Ah welcome Charlie, it is always good to see you, you don't happen to have seen my daughter around here somewhere have you? She was supposed to come home last night but she didn't and I heard you were back in town so the conclusion was easy to draw"

Charlie grinned and replied, "Good morning Mister Idoslaf, Joanna spent the night with me, we had some things to discuss and it got very late so she decided to stay over."

At that moment Joanna entered the shop and said, "Good morning papa, I hope I didn't make you worry about me."

She gave her father a hug and he replied, "You know me baby, I'll always worry about you. Especially when that red-haired troublemaker is around." This last was added with a wink at Charlie who had the courtesy to blush a little.

When the whole family with the additions had been packed into the shop Joanna turned to the others and said, "I would like you all to meet my father, Alexander Idoslaf, one of the finest dragon hide tanners in the world. He processes most of the dragon products from this preserve."

They all gave him a hand and Alexander said, "Welcome, welcome all of you. Any friend of my daughter is a friend of me." He then proceeded to show them his shop which was far larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

When Harry made an observation about this it was met with a grin form all others and Hermione said, "Well they managed it the same way as your ancestors managed to enlarge the lake room, they used space-expansion charms or in this case runes most likely."

Alexander nodded in agreement and said, "That is correct young lady. I can see that you know more about this subject than your age would indicate, perhaps you would like a small demonstration?"

Hermione nodded enthusiastically and said, "Yes please sir, I would love to see how it works."

Alexander then proceeded to grab a small dragon hide wallet from a shelf and showed it to the quartet who all looked interested. It was just an ordinary wallet with a zipper that closed the area for the change.

He opened the zipper and showed them that it was nothing out of the ordinary. The next thing he did was pick up his wand and aim it at the inside of the wallet. Slowly he carved a series of runes into the inside of the wallet and when he was done the inside of the wallet had expanded to about ten times its original size while the outside stayed exactly the same.

He offered the wallet to Harry who curiously put a few fingers inside it until his entire hand had gone in to about halfway up his lower arm. "Amazing," Harry said impressed and turning to Alexander he asked, "How much do you want for it, I bet Ivan could use a wallet like this." He added the last part to the girls besides him.

Alexander smiled and replied, "Special offer for you Mister Potter, only 15 Galleons."

"Deal," said Harry and he removed the golden coins from the money pouch on his belt. Handing them to Alexander he received the wallet in return and put it in the bottomless pouch next to his money pouch.

"What is that on your belt, if I may ask Mister Potter?" Alexander was looking curiously at the bottomless pouch and Harry grinned in response.

"It is a bottomless pouch Mister Idoslaf, special design of a friend of my mother. It resizes itself, depending on how much you put into it. They are quite handy if you are traveling."

Alexander nodded in agreement and said, "Well I must say it is an ingenious design, that friend of your mother has to be really skilled at what he does."

Harry and the girls got identical smiles and said with a knowing look at Arthur, "That he is indeed."

They spent about half an hour in the shop and bought a few things. Harry and the girls got dragon-hide gloves for next winter, Fred and George each bought dragon-hide boots and to Molly's displeasure, Bill bought an earring with a large dragon-tooth in it.

"Honestly Bill, what do you think they'll say about it at the bank?"

Bill seamed not the least bit concerned about that as he replaced the small stud in his left ear with the new dragon-tooth ring. "Trust me mother, no one will give a shit about it as long as I keep doing my work properly, I'm a curse-breaker not a bank clerk."

The others had to grin at this but quickly schooled their faces when Molly looked in their direction.

When they left the shop Alexander waved them out and they made their way back to the hotel.

Half an hour before lunch Charlie and Joanna walked with them to where they had arrived and stayed behind as Arthur handed out the portkey. They all took a hold on the rope and Charlie said, "Goodbye guys, we'll see you in a few days."

They all said their goodbye's as well before Arthur tapped the rope with his wand and said, "Weasley Manor, Cornwall," and they vanished with a familiar pull behind their navels, back to Britain.

Author's note:

I have received a few questions about the EXO Mark 7, so I wanted to explain a few things about it.

For a visual representation you can Google for, Mass Effect 3 Blood Dragon Armor, as this was my inspiration.

The Legionnaires will get a version that is painted in dark grey urban camouflage, and the Black Angels wear a version that is as the name suggests, black but with a red dragon head on the middle of the chest-plate, to indicate their position within the Legion.

Both versions of the suit have the same helmet as shown in Mass Effect 3, with the exception that the face plate has been replaced by the skull masks of the Legion. The suit enhances a Legionnaire's combat abilities in various ways.

Every suit has a built in goblin-made disillusionment charms which can be set to on or off. The goblin version of the charm makes the suit completely invisible for both the naked eye and spells like, homenum revelio.

The suits are made of titanium and are worn over a full body suit of high density Kevlar, which is still very flexible, making them completely bullet proof and highly resistant to, blasting curses, cutting curses, reducto's and any other curses meant to cause physical injury. The unforgivable curses cannot be stopped by the armor, but since every Legionnaire has been trained to be immune to the Imperious curse, they only need to worry about the Killing curse and the Cruciatus curse.

The suits are directly linked to a Legionnaire's nerve system, allowing for flawless enhancement of any body movement imaginable. It allows them to jump over a school bus in a single movement and to climb up walls thanks to the build-in sticking charms in the gloves, which can be turned on or off with a single thought.

It enhances the running speed to approximately 30 mph and allows for split-second evasive maneuvers, both vertically and horizontally.

As indicated by Ivan's actions with Marcus, it greatly enhances the physical strength of the wearer and allows for the carrying of great burdens.

The suits are powered by a smaller version of the standard Dragon Stones that are used by the goblins to power their more advanced wards. A Dragon Stone draws its energy directly from the earth and so is in essence an inexhaustible battery.

The suits are individually fitted to every Legionnaire so they fit flawlessly and are comfortable enough to be worn days on end and one can also sleep in them. Certain parts can be removed to allow the Legionnaires to relieve themselves when necessary.

The masks have also received an update and now they include; Infinite oxygen supply, thanks to a permanent air-refreshing charm. Infra red, night vision, thermal vision and normal sight, which can be cycled with a thought.

They have build in communication equipment which enables a Legionnaire to stay in contact within their squads, squad leaders can contact their platoon leaders and so on. The company commanders can directly contact Avalon or any other field HQ around the world, and Aurora and Gabrielle. This is enabled by a series of advanced surveillance satellites which have been privately launched by the Legion and circle earth.

Each EXO comes with a standard equipment set consisting of the following;

A standard ammo belt that holds several of Boltrock's bottomless pouches with ammo, and other gear.

On the upper right leg a holster with a SILH, and on the upper left leg two of the Legion combat knives. These can be interchanged for right - or left handed Legionnaires.

On both lower arms are extendable titanium blades of 12 inches, with a silver coating to use against werewolves, vampires, acromantula and other dark creatures that come to close to be shot.

The boots have extendable spikes for extra grip on rough terrain and the entire suit is airtight, to enable operations under water or in toxic environments such as nuclear disaster areas like Chernobyl.

Every single fighting member of the Legion will get one and that includes tank personnel and helicopter pilots. The sailors on board of the MPACS will get an adjusted version without the titanium reinforcement and made only from Kevlar, but it still protects more than the old Kevlar uniforms and is called the Mark 7.1. The Legion Marines will be the first to get the Mark 7 Spartan, but it will be in a grey/blue camouflage pattern.

The cost of a single EXO is 100.000 Galleons, or 500.000 Pounds sterling, so the process of fitting the entire Legion will take some time to spread the costs over two years, and will be ready around Christmas of year 3.

I hope this clarifies my vision of the EXO suits and if not please let me know.


	13. Chapter 13

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 13

They landed on exactly the same spot as last time, right before the gates of Weasley Manor. They casually made their way towards the front door only to see it already open and Millie and Edward waiting for them.

Both elves looked worried and when they were within hearing distance Millie came running towards them and said, "We ist so sorry master but we could not stops them, theys just entered the house and no matter what we didst theys woulds not leaves."

Arthur raised his hand and said, "Please slow down Millie, who is in the house?"

Millie took a large breath before she said, "Two women Master Arthur, one black haired and one silver haired."

At those words Harry and the girls paled a little, whatever the reason for Aurora and Gabrielle's presence, it would no doubt be related to their little disobedience from the day before.

"What are they doing in the house Millie?"

Millie took another big breath before answering Arthur's question. "Theys are waiting in the living room Master, but theys have taken masters owl before they throws us outs. We is not knowing why as theys already had two owls withs them."

At this Harry and the girls looked up confused and Harry asked, "Where those great grey owls, one speckled with red and the other speckled with silver?"

Millie nodded quickly and Harry muttered, "Why would they bring Furya and Argent with them."

At those names Arthur and Molly looked worried and Arthur said, "Oh no I hope they didn't…"

"They didn't… what?" it came from several sides as the quartet, Bill, Percy and Ron all asked it at the same time.

Arthur swallowed and said, "Well a few weeks ago I sent Errol with a letter to Aurora and she sent him back with a letter for us. That letter contained some very important information but apparently Errol thought it was to heavy so he dropped it somewhere. As a consequence, Aurora threatened to, 'wring Errol's neck and feed him to Furya and Argent."

"She was bluffing right?" Percy asked to Harry and the girls.

The quartet swallowed as one and Hermione said, "They never bluff, Percy. If they say they'll do something, then they will do it no matter what. And besides, Furya and Argent aren't owls, they're miniature goblin-bred Hungarian Horntails."

After sharing a look of horror amongst them, the Weasleys ran inside and towards the living room only to stop dead in their tracks. The scene that welcomed them spoke volumes.

Two small dragons were tearing at something that still roughly resembled a large grey-feathered bird. Bloodied feathers were spread everywhere and Aurora and Gabrielle sat calmly on one of the couches, with a beautiful snow-white owl on the back of the couch between them.

All three were calmly looking on as the dragons were tearing apart their meal and none seamed even in the slightest disturbed by the savagery of the whole scene.

The moment the doors opened, Aurora and Gabrielle turned towards it and Aurora said on a dead-calm tone, "Don't look so surprised Arthur, I told you what I would do with that bird of yours." She held up her left hand and the snow-white owl hopped on it while Aurora added, "This is Hedwig, she'll be replacing the late Errol, I suggest you take good care of her as she's highly intelligent and will take offence if you don't." She next put Hedwig on the back of an unoccupied chair where the owl ducked her head under her wing and went to sleep.

All the Weasley's and Harry, Hermione and Fleur were looking at Furya and Argent while they were unable to utter even a single word. The Weasleys were completely shocked while Harry and the girls looked with a macabre interest as Furya tore a large piece from the bird carcass on the floor.

It took the two dragons less than five minutes to tear apart and completely devour the bird. When they were done they curled up together on an unoccupied couch and Furya led out a loud 'BURP' with a few wet and bloodied feathers falling out of her maw at the same time.

As Furya lowered her head to rest on Argent's back, the group in the door opening came back to life. Arthur and Molly sat down on a third couch with a quite disturbed look on their faces and Molly looked a little sickly at the sight of the many grey feathers that still covered the floor.

The Weasley brothers also entered the sitting room and sat down on the various unoccupied couches and chairs that were scattered around the room.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny tried to sneak off to their room when Gabrielle spoke up, "Not so fast you four, we still have to talk about your little insubordination."

The quartet turned around and sulked back into the living room only to see Aurora and Gabrielle rise from the couch and walking towards them. Gabrielle turned her head to Furya and Argent and hissed softly so no one else could hear her, " _Come._ " The two dragons sprung up and ran quickly across the floor and up to Aurora and Gabrielle's shoulders where they draped themselves around their necks.

Before they left the room Aurora turned around and said, "Goodbye Arthur, Molly, we'll see you in a few weeks when we go to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies."

Gabrielle said, "Millie," and when the elf appeared she added, "Please clean up the mess if you would. All those feathers don't add any charm to the room." Millie nodded and with a snap of her fingers the room was spotless again. Gabrielle nodded in thanks and together with Aurora she led the quartet outside.

They walked in silence towards the coast and eventually sat down on the sand with their backs against a low cliff. Aurora and Gabrielle kept the silence going until it was broken by Harry.

"Are… are you mad at us?"

The two adults let out a deep sigh and Gabrielle answered, "Yes Harry we are mad at you. We told you to contact us the moment you found out if you were in Transylvania, but you didn't. We told you how dangerous it was to be out there. We told you to go back to the hotel, yet you still snuck out to eavesdrop on us. Of course we are mad at you."

None of the kids had an answer for that so Aurora asked, "Why did you not contact us immediately Harry. If you had, we could have told you to get out of there the moment you landed and you wouldn't have been there long enough to be noticed. And then we could have avoided this entire affair.

You may not realize it but the events of yesterday have ensured that we will be facing a vampire civil-war in the next few years. Had you done as we said, we would have told you to get out moments after you arrived and then Vlad would not have been forced to reprimand Marcus. He would not have given Marcus another reason to rebel against him, and we could have dealt with Marcus quietly and in due time.

Now however, too many witnesses have seen Vlad defend you against Marcus, making his position even more vulnerable than it already was. There is a very real chance that Marcus will join forces with Voldemort and in that case he is in an excellent position to open a second front for the Death Eaters, forcing us to divide our already outnumbered forces over two fronts."

Ever the logical one Hermione was the one to spot the flaw in Aurora's explanation. "But if it was so dangerous for us to go to Transylvania, then why didn't you tell us so and let us inform Arthur and Molly of the dangers it would entail?"

Aurora sighed and Gabrielle answered, "Because we thought we wouldn't have to, and we didn't want to ruin your vacation by having you constantly worry. We had already sent a letter to Arthur and Molly describing everything that could happen but that bloody owl Errol had dumped our letter somewhere, laying the foundations for a bloody war in the process."

"So that's why you fed Errol to those two," Ginny said while pointing accusingly at Furya and Argent who were now curled up on the sand before Aurora and Gabrielle.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle got a smirk at that question and Aurora said, "Yea about that… Edward."

Said elf appeared with a pop and in his hands he held a cage, and in the cage was… Errol.

"How… how…" was all Ginny could say while the other three looked equally confused.

The two adults were grinning at their reactions and Gabrielle said, "We couldn't just kill him for being old and weak. I mean we aren't the friendliest people but we're not complete monsters. We'll take him to a place where he can live the rest of his days in peace and without responsibilities.

We fed a large grey chicken to Furya and Argent when you arrived at the gates and by the time you came in, they had torn off enough to have it no longer be recognizable as a chicken."

"But Millie and Edward said that you had taken him," objected Fleur.

"We _have_ taken him, Fleur. And besides, Millie and Edward are still working for us." Aurora answered, "Molly and Arthur have received the house, but the elves were not included with that deal. On our orders they look after the house and the family in case something happens."

The quartet looked on in understanding but before they could relax, Gabrielle said, "However, this is not connected to the fact that you four knowingly disobeyed us. By now we would have hoped that we had told you enough of our lives to make you realize that if there is something _we_ are worried about, it really is something to be worried about. So please tell me why didn't you contact us immediately Harry?"

Harry looked a little sheepishly before he gave the same answer as he had given the girls, "I didn't want to insult Arthur and Molly by immediately contacting you when I heard where we were."

Aurora and Gabrielle blinked a few times to make sure they had indeed heard him correct before Gabrielle said incredulously, "You didn't want to insult Arthur and Molly?"

When Harry nodded his moms exploded, "WHAT THE HELL WHERE YOU THINKING HARRY," they yelled in unison before Aurora continued.

"How many times have we told you four that no matter what happens, your own safety comes first. No offence to your parents Ginny, but I don't give a crap who you insult, as long as you do exactly as we say until we are confident you can take care of yourselves. Do we have your promise that you'll never do something like this again?"

"Yes mom," the quartet said subdued.

"Good," replied Aurora between pursed lips, "Now onto why you left the hotel when we specifically instructed you to go back there and to _stay_ there. Why did you leave the hotel?"

Hermione was the only one brave enough to speak up and said, "We saw how worried you two were in the mirror and when that Dracula guy showed up you seemed to be even more on edge. We wanted to see if you needed help."

In an identical move both Aurora and Gabrielle let their heads fall into their hands and groaned, "You've got to be kidding me."

After a while Aurora managed to say, "After everything we have told you, did you still believe we were worried about _ourselves_?"

Harry and the girls all nodded and after a sigh Gabrielle replied, "Do you know why it took us an hour to get here, when all we had to do was flame there and we could have been with you within seconds."

The kids shook their heads and Gabrielle explained, "We knew exactly what risks would accompany our presence in Transylvania. We immediately gave orders to Anderson and 5 minutes after you contacted us, the first platoons arrived in Transylvania.

By the time we arrived, the entire preserve had been surrounded by camouflaged companies. We sent two regiments, over three-thousand Legionnaires, with helicopters and tanks before we went there ourselves.

You never saw them, but six Apaches followed you from the moment you left the hotel and stayed in the area until Sharpknife and the goblins showed up to relieve them. When Sharpknife and his team left, you were again followed by half a dozen Apaches who stayed in the area until you left this morning.

We were worried, aye, but not for ourselves we can deal with Vlad, and Marcus is just a power-hungry moron. No we worried about _you_ , we were afraid that something might happen to you before we would be able to properly prepare. Had Marcus decided to harm you, I'm not entirely sure what would happen but I do know that the giant-genocide would have paled in comparison to it. We were willing and able to start and fight a war to get you four out of there unharmed."

"You… you… you would have gone to war for us?" Harry asked with awe in his voice and a wide-eyed expression on his face. The girls were speechless and couldn't utter a word."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked at the quartet with a deadly calm expression and Gabrielle said, "We would destroy half the world if that was what it would take to save you. You four are the first and only real family we have had since Merlin died, there is _nothing_ we wouldn't have done to ensure your safety."

The quartet was to overwhelmed by what they had heard to respond so they just sat there and thought about everything they had said. In hindsight it all seemed so obvious, of course Aurora and Gabrielle had been worried about them and not about themselves. Of course they would have prepared for everything.

"We… we're sorry," muttered Fleur finally. "We should have realized that you were worried about us instead of about yourselves. It's just that there is so much we don't yet know about you. You have told us what you have done, but we have never actually seen it happen. Hearing about something is one thing, but seeing it happen makes it that much more real."

"So you're saying that you want to _see_ what we are capable of on a battle field." Asked Gabrielle softly. When Fleur and the others nodded Gabrielle added, "You do realize that there is a reason why we haven't shown you anything right? Some of those memories contain a level of violence and bloodshed that would make even Alastor lose his lunch when he would see them."

The quartet paled a little but still they nodded in understanding and Ginny said, "It's like you told the others yesterday, sooner or later we'll be fighting on the frontlines with you, wouldn't it be better if we knew what we would be facing when that time comes."

It took a few minutes for Aurora and Gabrielle to be able to admit to themselves that she did have a point and finally they relented. "Very well," sighed Aurora, "if you're sure you want this than we'll prepare a few of the lesser memories for you to watch when you come home from France."

Inwardly Harry and the girls cheered, seeing Aurora kill that Ironbelly yesterday made them want to know what else they were capable of, they knew it would be gruesome to behold but like Ginny said, better too soon than too late.

After a few more minutes had gone by in silence, Aurora and Gabrielle stood up and Aurora said, "You guys should go back inside, and remember, they mustn't know that Errol is still alive or else they'll want him back and we simply cannot risk them using him again as he is a liability."

The kids nodded and followed Aurora and Gabrielle back to the Manor. At the front doors they said goodbye and with Furya and Argent on their shoulders, Aurora and Gabrielle flamed away leaving the kids to make their way back inside.

When they once again entered the living room they found a still subdued group of Weasley's. As soon as they entered Molly sprung up and asked in quick succession, "Are you guys all right? Did they hurt you? Are you in trouble? Is there anything Arthur and I can do?"

Ginny held up her hands to stop her mother's rambling and said, "Yes we are all right, no they would never hurt us, yes we are in trouble, and no there is nothing you and dad can do for us."

Molly sat back down next to Arthur and the Weasley brothers looked curiously towards the quartet until Percy asked, "What did they want to talk with you about?"

The quartet shook their heads and Harry replied, "Sorry Percy but that is between us four and my mothers."

Percy looked as if he wanted to ask more but Arthur interrupted him and said, "That'll be enough about that. I suggest you all go to your rooms an unpack, you'll see that Millie and Edward have moved all of your stuff from The Burrow to here, so there'll be pile of stuff in each of your rooms. I suggest you all get started at sorting through it."

They all nodded and Bill asked, "What will happen to the Burrow dad, now that you have all moved in here?"

Arthur grinned and said, "Well since we don't have to buy a new house with it, your mother and I are using the money to have the Burrow turned into a holiday home and give it a much needed renovation, so maybe in time you or Charlie can move in to start a family."

At those last words Harry and the girls shared a knowing look as they knew Arthur was hinting at Joanna's pregnancy.

Shortly after they all left to their respective rooms and when the quartet entered Ginny's room, they did indeed find a pile of her things in the middle of the room. It consisted for the most part of old clothes and books but there was also a variety of other things.

Over the course of the next few hours the quartet worked together to clear the pile and give everything a new place in the new room.

When they were done they made their way back downstairs and found Arthur and Molly in the sitting room. "Mom," Ginny asked when they entered the room, "can I invite a few friends over tomorrow?"

Looking a little wary Molly asked, "Exactly how many friends are we talking about?"

Ginny counted them on her fingers as she named them. "Luna, Neville, Hannah, Susan, Draco, Daphne, Tracy and Blaise."

Molly looked a little surprised at the long list but Arthur grinned and said, "Well if you invite two more you can play a full Quidditch match."

Ginny's eyes brightened at that prospect and she said, "That's a great idea dad, maybe Fred and George want to join us. So does that mean we can invite them?"

Arthur nodded with a grin and said, "Go ahead just inform Millie about how many are coming so that she and Edward know for how many they will have to cook for."

Ginny nodded enthusiastically and the quartet hurried to the nearest fireplace to put in a few floo calls.

Half an hour later everyone had been called and they all promised they would come the next day. However, when they had told them of their idea about a Quidditch match, they all said that they didn't have a broom yet, so that was something they would need to take into consideration.

When the last call was over the quartet sat down on a couch and with a sigh Harry said, "Well it looks like we'll have to share one broom with twelve people, not including Fred and George, that's going to be difficult."

"Wait a moment," Hermione piped up, "isn't there a broom-shed at home? Can't we ask mom to see if there are any brooms left that we can use?"

Ginny hugged Hermione and said, "I knew there was a reason we loved you, you're brilliant."

With a mock offended look Hermione responded, "Oh really, is that the only reason you guys love me?"

Ginny blushed and said, "No of course not there are too many reasons to count but that's defiantly one of them."

To save Ginny from Hermione's incredulous stare Harry quickly took out the mirror and, opened it and said, "Aurora."

A few seconds later Aurora's face appeared and she asked with a raised eyebrow, "Please don't tell me have managed to get into trouble in the few hours since we left."

They quickly shook their heads and Fleur said quickly, "No we're not. We just have a little problem that you might be able to solve for us."

"Go on," replied Aurora with a small grin on her face.

"Well…" began Ginny until Harry interrupted her.

"We want to invite our friends over to Weasley Manor for a Quidditch match tomorrow, but I'm the only one with a broom. Do you know if there are any brooms left in the broom-shed at the manor."

Aurora grinned and said, "I'll see what I can do kids, when do you need them and how many do you need?"

"They're coming at noon, so around 12:30 I guess," said Hermione before adding, "O and there are twelve of us, so we need eleven brooms since Harry brought his in his trunk."

"All right kids, I'll see what I can do and I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Thanks mom," the quartet replied before Harry closed the mirror.

At Potter Manor Aurora likewise closed the mirror and seeing her grin when she entered the room Gabrielle asked, "What are you grinning about? You know just as well as I do that there are no brooms left in that shed, we got rid of them after Harry and Hermione snuck in when they were five remember."

"I know," Aurora replied still with that grin on her face, "But do you remember that memo Ragnok sent us this morning, about that merger and the opportunity it presented for us."

Gabrielle nodded now sporting a similar grin and said, "Well we did tell him we would consider it, so I guess we'll have to let him know that he should do it."

Aurora grinned and replied, "Indeed, so I guess a little trip to Gringotts is in order." Offering her hand to Gabrielle, her partner took it and they flamed away.

Unknowing what his mothers had in store for them, Harry and the girls had put the mirror away again and headed to the kitchen because, judging by the smell, dinner was about to be served.

When they entered the kitchen they found that their noses had been correct as Millie and Edward were busy setting the table and they offered to give them a hand.

After dinner they spent a quiet evening around a bonfire at the beach before everyone headed to bed. It had been an eventful day and everyone was quick to fall asleep.

The next morning everyone had a bit of a sleep in and the quartet was woken up at 10:00 by Millie who said softly, "Yous must wake up Master and Mistresses, Mistress has sent word that she shalls be here at half past noon, and yous haves to do exercises first."

Stretching and yawning the quartet rose up and decided to get their morning swim done with before they headed to breakfast/lunch. They took their turns in the bathroom to dress in their swimwear. Taking big soft towels from a rack on the wall, they made their way downstairs towards the indoor pool.

When they arrived at the pool they saw that Fred, George, Ron and Bill all had the same idea and the sizable pool was already occupied. It was smaller than the one in Harry's trunk, but it was still 80 feet by 30 feet.

When the girls entered they decided to do a little test and Fleur fully reigned in her allure, while Hermione and Ginny did their utmost to project theirs. To their surprise the effect was rather disturbing.

Fred, George and Ron were instantly reduced to oozing puddles of staring eyes and watering mouths, while Bill was visibly having problems to stop himself from charging them 'head'-on.

The girls were so shocked by what their attempt had caused that they forgot to cancel their attempts at projecting their allure until Fleur and Harry shook them a few times and Fleur said loudly, "STOP IT."

Hermione and Ginny quickly took control of themselves again and hurried to cancel the projecting of their allure, allowing the other four occupants of the pool to come back to their senses as well.

"We're so sorry guys," was all Hermione and Ginny managed to say to the four Weasleys.

Fred, George and Ron looked confused but Bill had a scowl on his face and stepped towards them before he softly said, "You really should be careful with that you know."

Hermione and Ginny nodded silently and Fleur replied equally softly, "We know Bill, but it has never had such a strong effect before. The most they have managed until now is a few curious stares from the boys at school."

Bill nodded thoughtfully before he said, "I'm not sure but it could be that you gaining control of your animagus forms have enhanced your other skills as well, including that allure of you three."

The quartet looked intrigued at this suggestion and unanimously decided to consult Aurora and Gabrielle about it when they could sit down in peace at Potter Manor.

They quickly jumped in the pool and started their morning routine under the watchful eyes of Ginny's brothers.

At 11:15 they left the pool and headed quickly to their room to take a shower and get dressed for the day.

Twenty minutes later they sat at breakfast/lunch and quickly devoured plates filled with eggs, sausages, toast and bacon. They were just finishing their second plate when Neville, Hannah and Susan were led into the kitchen by Arthur.

"Hey guys," Neville said cheerfully at the quartet and Hannah and Susan repeated his greeting. Harry and the girls likewise said hello before they quickly stood up and led their friends towards the sitting room to wait for the arrival of the others.

By 12:20 everyone had arrived and it was Draco who said, "So have you found a solution for our broom-shortage problem."

Harry grinned a bit sheepishly and said, "Yea about that, I told my mothers and they said they'd look in the broom-shed at home if there were any left. They should be here in a few minutes since they said they'd be here by 12:30."

At that moment Millie popped into the room and said, "Master Harry, your mothers are here, theys be waiting at the pitch."

"Well I guess that's our queue," Harry said with a grin while nodding in thanks to Millie. He led the others towards the Quidditch pitch, which was quite the walk as it was on the other side of the grounds.

It took them about ten minutes to walk to the pitch and when they arrived they were surprised to find that not only were Aurora and Gabrielle present, but there were several strangers with them as well. In the middle of the pitch there stood about a dozen racks with about sixty brooms on them and there was a table with four long rectangular cases on it.

When they stepped onto the Quidditch pitch, the quartet and their friends looked amazed at what they saw and when they had reached the table he asked to his mothers, "Wha… what is, what is this?"

With a cheeky grin on her face Aurora said, "Well I happen to know the owners of the biggest broom-manufacturing-company in the world, and they offered to host a private broom promotion event."

There was a certain twinkle in her eyes when she said this, which was only caught by the quartet and they knew there was more behind this.

In the meantime, the others were gathered around the racks of brooms and talking excitedly amongst each other while they were pointing out various models.

"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION," Gabrielle yelled over the pitch and the excited chatter died down immediately, while everyone gave their attention to Gabrielle.

"Good afternoon everyone, I guess I don't have to introduce myself to anyone of you." They all shook their heads. Even Luna did so, while she stared at both Gabrielle and Aurora with curious eyes.

"Good then let me explain a little. Yesterday, two of the biggest broom-manufacturers in Britain merged together. The new owners are good friends of us and they offered to hold a small demonstration of prototypes as a favor to us.

These companies are 'Nimbus', and 'Bolt International Racing Brooms'. Together they now form 'Nimbus International Racing Brooms', the biggest manufacturer of racing brooms in the world.

These gentlemen here are the best designers of both companies and they'll take you on a tour past several new brooms, including the brand new Nimbus 2001 and the concept model of the future Firebolt."

By then a full dozen drooling kids were listening at her, even Hermione and Neville, who were by no standards very good on a broom, were eager to step onto a few of the beautiful brooms before them.

The rest of that afternoon was spent with racing across the pitch on the new prototypes. Only Harry and Draco were brave enough to step onto the concept model of the Firebolt, and both agreed that it would need a lot of work before it was enjoyable to fly. It had a habit of making sudden turns and it nearly threw Harry off when he was trying to take it to a hundred miles an hour.

When it became too dark to fly safely, Aurora called everyone back to the ground and she sent them back to the manor for dinner. While keeping the quartet behind for a moment.

"Harry, Hermione, do you remember that I promised you guys last year that we would get you a broom before second year?"

Hermione nodded eagerly but Harry said, "I already got a broom from you, does that mean I don't get to pick one?"

Aurora smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry Harry, the others don't get to choose either. That Nimbus of yours will still be used by you during the Quidditch matches at school, but in your spare time you'll be testing these," at that she pointed towards the four cases on the table.

They stepped curiously towards the table until Fleur stopped and said, "Wait a moment, exactly who are those new owners you were talking about?"

With a big grin Aurora said, "Guess."

"You," the four exclaimed as one.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle nodded at this and Gabrielle explained, "We already owned more than half of Nimbus and when we heard from Ragnok that there was a possibility for a merger between Nimbus and Bolt, we bought up all the remaining shares and merged them together. We need their expertise to design a military-grade high-speed pursuit broom for the MSS. And guess who'll be testing the prototypes."

Now looking confused Hermione said, "But if that merger took place only yesterday, then how come they already have a prototype ready?"

"Well," began Gabrielle, "that is because Bolt actually had a few ready but were unable to test them because they 'borrowed' some techniques from Nimbus. But now that they are one company, we can have them tested without legal issues. So let me present the prototype of… The Black Bolt."

At those last words the two women opened the four cases and showed the brooms to the kids. As the name suggested they were all black in color. They looked a bit on the heavy side but assumed that was just to make them tougher and more damage resistant.

"Sweet," the quartet said as one.

Taking a broom from one of the cases, Harry added, "How fast can they go?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle shrugged and Gabrielle said, "You tell us, they have never been flown before. So it's a mystery you'll have to uncover on your own, but at a later time. For now, we will take these back to the Manor and you can test-fly them when you come home from France."

The quartet looked a little disappointed at this but they understood the need for secrecy. Harry put the broom back into its case and they said goodbye to Aurora and Gabrielle before making their way back to the house.

They found their friends and the Weasleys gathered at the outside dining area were Bill and Arthur were manning two grills, while Millie and Edward were laying the tables and bringing out salads, sauces and other things.

The evening went on for several more hours while the kids traded stories of school or played games. At 22:00 Arthur and Molly declared that it was time for the others to go home and the quartet accompanied their friends to the fireplace, before making their way to their room.

The few remaining days at Weasley Manor were mostly spent with sunning at the beach or racing around the Quidditch pitch with Fred, George and Ron.

At the end of their third week of holiday, the kids where gathered again before a fireplace, this time they were on their way to France.


	14. Chapter 14

I'm so sorry for accidentally posting the wrong chapter. Here is the correct one

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 14

On the morning of their last day with the Weasleys, the quartet was woken by Molly who knocked on the door of Ginny's room before entering it. She found the quartet cuddled together in bed and just like Emma a few weeks ago, she looked fondly at the sleeping kids.

"It's time to wake up dears," she said while softly shaking their shoulders one by one. A few grumbles later they all sat up in bed and wrung the sleep from their eyes, while Molly left the room again after adding, "You have an hour to get dressed and pack your stuff, because you'll be leaving directly after breakfast."

They took their turns in the shower before getting dressed and stuffing all of their clothes and other things into their trunks, not that it was much as they had mostly lived out of their trunks instead of putting their clothes in the wardrobe.

When they arrived at breakfast they still had a little over an hour before they had to leave for the airport. They would be taking an international portkey from Heathrow London, to Charles de Gaulle in Paris where Jean-Paul would be waiting for them.

After breakfast they thanked Millie and Edward for the excellent care they had given them and said goodbye to the Weasleys, except for Arthur, who would go with them to Heathrow. They went to the fireplace and Arthur went through first after saying, "Heathrow London."

The kids followed him in quick succession, each stating their destination before stepping into the fire.

When they arrived they found themselves in a massive, torch lit, soft brown marble hall. The hall was easily three times as long as the great hall at Hogwarts, though only half as high. Over a hundred desks where spread around one side of the hall. Each desk had a sign over it with the name of a country on it.

The other side of the hall also had signs with countries on it but no desks, instead there were simple roped-off areas underneath each sign.

In front of most of the desks were short queues with, for the most part, sleepy-looking witches and wizards. In the roped-off areas was a sporadic appearance of witches and wizards who were awaited by customs wizards, who checked them with weird looking antennae before registering their names and their wands in large leather-bound books.

Arthur led the group towards the desk underneath the sign with 'France' and they joined the luckily very short queue. They only had to wait for a few minutes before it was their turn and Arthur addressed the customs witch who was seated behind the desk.

"Good morning, my name is Arthur Weasley. I reserved a four-person portkey to Paris a few weeks ago."

The witch looked in the big book before her and went down a list of names before stopping at a certain line and saying, "A four person portkey for H. Potter, H. Granger, F. Delacour and G. Weasley. Destination Charles de Gaulle, Paris, is that correct."

Arthur nodded silently and the witch stood up before saying, "If you four would follow me then."

She tapped the waist-high iron gate between her desk and the next with her wand and the gate opened to let the quartet enter. Ginny gave her father a last hug and the other three each shook his hand before they followed the witch through the gate, leaving a waving Arthur behind.

The witch led them through a door while another witch took her place behind the desk. The kids were a little curious about why the witch would leave her desk to accompany them, as she had not done so for the people who were before them, but that question was answered when the door had closed behind Harry.

"Good morning guys," the witch's face and hair suddenly changed and after about five seconds, they stood eye to eye with a grinning, pink-haired Dora. "So how was Transylvania?" Dora added with a wink before giving them a broad grin.

"Dora." The quartet said as one and they gave her all a hug.

When they were done hugging Hermione asked, "How did you know we went to Transylvania?"

Dora gave them an amused grin and said, "I was on duty at the palace when the news arrived that you four had somehow appeared in Transylvania."

"How did aunt Lizzy take the news?" asked Harry with a little trepidation.

"Not well," Dora replied with a serious expression, "Your mothers were smart enough not to let the news get outside the Legion, until the whole thing had been dealt with. You should have heard how her Majesty was yelling at your mothers.

She was livid that they hadn't informed her first, before bringing an army into hostile territory. According to everyone I have spoken to, it was the first time the Queen was so angry with your mothers, she kept yelling at them until Aurora pointed out that they had only done what they had done to ensure the safety of you four. They told her the only reason they had brought the Legion was because Vlad could take their presence as a declaration of war, and they had to be prepared to deal with such a situation if it occurred."

Her words reminded Harry and the girls once again of the danger they had been in and they resolved to train even harder, so they could take some of the worries away from Elizabeth, Aurora and Gabrielle.

"But you shouldn't worry about it kids," Dora said quickly when she saw their worried expressions and added, "The situation was resolved without casualties and the Queen and your mothers made up, so there is nothing to worry about."

The kids nodded softly and Dora led them towards the only object in the room. It was a pedestal and on it lay a simple iron ring, about ten inches across.

"That ring is the portkey," explained Dora. "When you all have a hand on it, one of you counts from five down to one and it will automatically activate. When you arrive in Paris Jean-Paul will be waiting for you and he'll deal with everything on that side. So I guess this is the moment when I say goodbye and return to my boring desk-job."

She made to turn around when Fleur asked, "But what are you doing here anyway? I thought you were stationed at the palace and doesn't the customs department fall under the DMLE? So what is an MSS agent doing her?"

Dora grinned and replied, "Well the MSS numbers have grown exponentially since Madame Bones took over and they had to find places to employ everyone. About half of all the witches and wizards in the customs department are MSS agents, and the other half will either be recruited or replaced in the next year. Aurora and Gabrielle want to know about everyone who enters Britain, as some might be Death Eater supporters."

At their amused looks Dora added, "Those two are paranoid and way to over-protective about you four, but they're not stupid. If they say You-Know-Who has been recruiting abroad than he has been doing so and sooner or later, those recruits will come to Britain.

These are Aurora's exact words when I asked her the same question, "When those buggers start causing trouble, we want to have a list of who they are and where they came from so we can identify the corpses once we are done with them."

Harry and the girls grinned at that, it did indeed sound like something Aurora would say. Dora gave them a last wave before changing her looks again and disappearing through the door they had come through.

When they were alone in the room the kids looked at each other and Harry said, "I'll count."

The others nodded and they each put a hand on the iron ring.

"Five… four… three… two… one."

When Harry said 'one', the portkey activated and they were pulled away by the now familiar hook behind their navels. They spun around for about half a minute before they slowed down and were dropped to the ground. Being used to Goblin-made portkeys, the quartet felt sick after using a human-made one which were far less stable.

An unknown French wizard in navy blue robes helped them up and said with a hint of humor, "I'm guessing you four haven't traveled by portkey before, or have you?"

They shook their heads, as goblin-made portkeys were very expensive and they didn't want the news to leak out that they had used them regularly.

When he had helped Fleur up the man took one look at her face, paled, and said quickly, "My apologies Miss Delacour, I didn't know it was you. Is there anything I can do for you."

Fleur softly shook her head but the motion caused her to turn slightly green and the man quickly conjured a bucket for her. He was just in time as Fleur's breakfast was leaving her the moment the bucket was beneath her chin.

She groaned softly and said, "I'm never going to travel by portkey again. that was the worst experience of my live."

There came a soft chuckle from behind them and when they turned around they saw Jean-Paul standing there, with a big grin on his face and two impressive and rather serious looking men in black suits on either side of him. Apparently Jean-Paul's position as Deputy Minister for Magic required him to be accompanied by bodyguards wherever he went.

Fleur glared at her father before quickly turning back to the bucket and releasing more of her breakfast into it. Hermione and Ginny both had an arm around Fleur's shoulder while Harry looked calculating at the two bodyguards flanking his father-in-law.

Jean-Paul saw his look and said in a whisper, "Don't worry Harry, they're your mothers', she sent me a squad to provide security while you four were staying in France. I'm guessing she wants to prevent something similar happening here as that business in Transylvania."

Harry let out a relieved sigh, having a squad of fully trained Legionnaires nearby did indeed make him feel a lot more relaxed and he turned back to the girls.

Fleur had stopped vomiting and wizard in the navy blue robes vanished the bucket, including the contents, before saying, "Well Miss Delacour, I can only hope your stay in France will be more pleasant than the journey here."

Fleur nodded weakly at him and thanked him softly for the bucket, before they joined Jean-Paul and his guards and made their way towards the muggle part of the airport, specifically the helicopter port.

When they arrived at the helicopter terminal they saw a familiar looking large black Chinook waiting for them. "I thought it would be best if we didn't take the floo home, as the combination of a human-made portkey followed soon after by floo travel can mess up even the strongest stomach."

The quartet looked relieved, though only Fleur had actually done it, they all felt like they would throw up if they had to use the floo to get to Delacour Manor. They entered the Chinook and soon after the pilot started the engines and as soon as they were warmed up, they rose up and flew swiftly towards the Ardennes.

It took them less than half an hour to get to the Delacour chateau in the Ardennes and by the time they arrived, Fleur's stomach had settled itself and she was herself again, chatting merrily with her father and the others about the things they had done while at the Weasley's.

The pilot landed the Chinook on the grass before the chateau and the quartet got off. Jean-Paul had to do some things for his work and so he stayed in the helicopter which would drop him off on its way back to Avalon.

Meanwhile the quartet made their way towards the chateau. The doors opened and they were met by Apolline and little Gabby, who ran towards her sister and enveloped her in a big hug, before doing the same to Harry, Hermione and Ginny.

Apolline also gave them all a hug before she ushered them into the chateau. " You had best drop your trunks off at Fleur's room, before you get changed and join me at the pool. Gabby is going to Jacqueline and the twins, but we are not going anywhere today."

They hurried upstairs and within a few minutes they were back downstairs, all dressed in their swimwear and heading towards the pool.

When they made it to the pool Harry, Hermione and Ginny had to swallow as they all saw Apolline laying on a lounge chair in her swimwear.

Fleur's mother looked more like an older version of Fleur than her mother. She wore a white string bikini and her long blond hair lay braided on her chest. The trio couldn't help it, they were secretly comparing Fleur to her mother. And seeing the similarities between her and her mother, Fleur would end up as a real beauty. Secretly Hermione and Ginny were a little jealous, as they thought they could never reach the level of elegance that Apolline carried herself with.

Fleur was a little put off by the trio's looks at her mother and she kicked Harry against his shin and gave Hermione and Ginny an elbow in the side before hissing, "Could you guys please stop staring at my mother, it's embarrassing."

The trio shook their heads and looked a little sheepish as Apolline had heard Fleur hiss and turned towards them. "Hello kids, take a chair and come join me. By the looks on your faces we have some things to discuss I think."

They nodded silently and walked over to Apolline, who gave a little flick with her wand to rearrange the chairs in a circle so they could all see each other.

When they were all seated she sighed softly before saying, "I could not help but hear Fleur's words, which means it is time I have a talk with you that I had hoped to not have with Fleur before she turned fifteen."

The quartet looked a little unsure about what she had said so she continued. "You all have the full powers of a Veela now. Because despite what Aurora and Gabrielle think they know, they are wrong. Either you are a Veela, or you are not. There is no middle ground so you are all full blood Veela."

At this they looked a little surprised and Hermione asked, "But if Ginny and I are full Veela than how come we cannot use our allure like Fleur does. We have to deliberately want to use it, before we can and only since about a week can we use it at the same strength as Fleur."

Apolline grinned and said, "That is very simple and it is the same reason as why Emily and Aimé refused to let you touch them at Christmas, Fleur." Fleur looked curious and also a little hurt at that memory but before she could say anything Apolline continued. "Before I explain anything further tough, you must know that this is not to be shared with anyone who is not also Veela."

The girls nodded and Harry stood up from his chair before saying, "I'll leave you to it than as I am not a girl and so am not a Veela."

He turned around and went to walk away when Apolline said, "Stop Harry." He turned around and she added, "It is true that you are not a girl, but none the less you are a Veela."

At this all four stared at her with open mouths and Fleur stammered, "But… but… how can that be? There has never been a male Veela as it is only passed down from mother to daughter."

Apolline nodded seriously and said, "Indeed that is true but since the four of you are joined by a Blood Pact, you all share the same powers and that includes those of a Veela."

"Do, do my mothers know about this?" asked Harry a little unsure.

Apolline only shrugged and said, "I do not know. It is commonly known that all Veela are female, but since your mothers are the world's leading, and only authority on blood magic, there is a good chance that they knew this could happen."

The kids nodded in silence until Ginny said, "But you were going to tell us something?"

Apolline inclined her head and said, "Indeed I am. Now let me make one exception to what I just said. You three are allowed to tell Aurora and Gabrielle about this, as they likely already know most, if not all of what I'm about to tell you. And they will find out anyway, because they are around you the most."

Before she began her tale, Apolline gave another wave with her wand and a platter with large glasses of ice water with lemon appeared. Another flick of her wand saw the glasses float to each of them and they grabbed them in hand.

"Now, as I was saying. The reason why you were not able to use the full power of your allure, and the reason why Emily and Aimé refused to let Fleur touch them at Christmas, are one and the same.

It is not really my area of expertise but I know this much. In your case Fleur, it was that your body was still recovering from having two-thirds of your Veela power torn away, it had to fill that void again and that process takes time.

In the case of you two, Hermione, Ginny, your bodies needed to get used to the presence of the Veela. They had to readjust themselves to form a unity between your own magical cores, the Veela powers and the Dragon Blood Aurora and Gabrielle gave you. That is the reason why you were not able to use the allure at full power. Now that you can I don't think it will be long until you will have to reign it in like Fleur has to."

The trio of girls looked thoughtful while Apolline turned to Harry. "In your case Harry, I have no idea what will happen, as you are the first male Veela I have ever heard about. Maybe the Elders have some ideas, but I'm not sure."

"Who are the Elders?" asked Harry awhile he thought about what Apolline was saying. It would appear he was even more unique than he had already thought. 'Great' he thought to himself, 'more stuff people are going to freak out about.'

"The Elders are the members of the Veela council, the body that rules the various colonies and they negotiate and speak on behalf of our race to governments that have colonies within their borders. They preside on an island in Greece, where the Veela race originated. The island also holds a library with all the knowledge Veela have gathered over the centuries. Maybe that library holds some information that is relevant to your situation."

Harry nodded softly and the trio of girls still looked in awe at what Apolline had told them about Harry.

"But on to what I wanted to tell you. As you probably already found out, all four of you are very reliant on physical contact, hugs and cuddling will bring you comfort and distance from each other will bring discomfort."

They all nodded to indicate that this was indeed the case and Apolline continued. "That is a defining characteristic of Veela. We are beings of love and affection, not of lust and primal urges as most of the magical world seems to think we are.

This may sound familiar, as it is very similar to what Aurora and Gabrielle have told me about how the dragon blood will affect you. As a Veela you are very attuned to your emotions and if a person means enough to you, your inner powers will make a connection to that person's emotional state, and you'll be able to tell if they are sad or angry. Just like Fleur did with Harry and Hermione and how she was able to tell that they were worried when you were injured Ginny.

Furthermore, when you are matured you'll have an occasional odd feeling when in the presence of other Veela. This is perfectly normal and that feeling will encourage you to make contact with them and 'bond' with them. This is not the kind of bond the four of you share, as that one is much, much stronger, but more in the way of friendship.

Also your sense of propriety and morals are different when dealing with other Veela. Which is the reason why you were so shocked when you saw Aurora and Gabrielle engaged in some 'adult activities', but you had no problem with staring at me." At this the quartet turned red but before they could ask anything, Apolline smiled and added, "Emma told me about it and I promised all your other parents that I would talk about it with you."

The kids looked a little uncomfortable with that last piece of information and sensing their discomfort, Apolline said, "Do not worry about it. I will not tell you anything as I do not have to, when you are ready you will know what to do by instinct.

But what I will say is this, you three girls do not have to worry about getting pregnant to young. A Veela has to consciously make the choice to be fertile, to become pregnant. If you do not want to get pregnant, you won't and even if you want to, the chances of you becoming pregnant are the same as with 'normal' humans. Veela normally only get pregnant with a daughter once, who will naturally be Veela as well. Any other children will almost always be boys. I am one of the few that are lucky enough to have more than one daughter, but we are few in numbers. Twin girls are more common as with my sister Jacqueline."

The quartet, but especially Hermione, Fleur and Ginny looked relieved to hear that they would not have to worry about pregnancy so young and the uncomfortable looks vanished from their faces.

"And now onto another topic," Apolline continued her story, "the colonies. In a Veela colony there is a strong sense of unity, any males in a colony are obviously human, but they all share one trait, they are immune to our allure, making them able to resist the others and stay with their bonded partner. As only true love will make one immune to the effects of our allure.

When you four are older I will take you to one of the colonies and show you around, as for now there are too many unknown factors around Harry's situation to safely do so. Some may see you as an abomination and attack you, so when we go, your mothers will have to be present as they can ensure your safety."

The kids nodded again and Apolline said, "How far are you girls with transforming into your Harpy form?"

The three girls looked confused between each other and Apolline until Fleur said, "What do you mean mama?"

"Your animagus forms, Aurora said last year that you would start working on them first thing this summer?"

At Apolline's words Fleur looked a little unsure and replied, "We have been working on our animagus forms, and we have all mastered them, but we are not anything like a harpy."

Now it was Apolline's turn to look confused and she said, "I don't understand, every Veela has an animagus form and they are all the same, a harpy. But if yours are not, then what forms do you have?"

At this the quartet grinned and standing up they moved away from the chairs until they had the space they needed and they transformed into their Fenrir forms. To say Apolline was startled was a massive understatement. She screamed and was actually shaking in fear. They could see that her skin had gone from fair to leathery, indicating that she had nearly changed from the shock.

The kids were surprised by this and quickly turned back into their human forms. "What is wrong mama?" Fleur asked as soon as she was human again.

Apolline relaxed slightly in the absence of the Fenrirs and said, "When I was very young I was chased by a pack of wild wolves, my father killed two of them and the rest scattered, but I have been afraid of them ever since."

The kids were silent until Fleur said, "Why have you not told me this before? Does papa know?"

Apolline shivered and said softly, "No one else knows, I have never told anyone besides your father, and now you four. I… I will try to keep myself together when you change, but please be patient with me, normal wolves scare me, but you four are far larger."

"Well," began Fleur, "that is probably because we are not wolves, but Fenrirs, creatures from ancient Norse mythology and Harry's form happens to be an ancient friend of Aurora and Gabrielle and is called Ragnarok."

"The world-ender." Apolline gasped.

"Not exactly," Hermione said in response, "according to Aurora and Gabrielle, his death issued in the end of the Norse mythology and marked their transition from Norse paganism to Christianity."

Apolline softly shook her head and muttered, "Why does everything always have to be so complicated with you four."

The quartet shrugged a little apologetic before Apolline sighed a last time and said a little more cheerful, "Now enough of such serious matters, let's get into the pool and cool off for a bit."

The kids quickly agreed and they all jumped into the pool where they stayed for the rest of the day until Jean-Paul came home and they had dinner together.

The two weeks they spent in France went by much smoother than the two weeks with the Weasleys. They spent a lot of time with Apolline and Gabby and got to know Jacqueline and the twins when they also came over for a few days.

Thanks to the financial help of Aurora and a lot of manpower from the Legion, the settlement had been rebuilt in no time. Though it had lost nearly half of its inhabitants, it was once again a peaceful place. Many of the victims who had been left behind alone, the orphans and the widows, joined together into new makeshift families and found a new sense of belonging after those traumatic events.

Before they knew it, two weeks had passed and it was time for them to return to Potter Manor and start their training for the summer, no doubt Aurora and Gabrielle had a whole lot of things planned for them.

To the immense relief of the quartet, they did not have to take a portkey back to Potter Manor, as Aurora had sent a chopper to pick them, and the squad of Legionnaires who had provided security, up from the Delacour chateau.

As they were waiting for the Chinook to arrive, the quartet stood with Jean-Paul, Apolline and Gabby and were saying their goodbyes to the Delacours. They promised to come visit them later in the summer to accompany them on their trip to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies.

After a short while one of the Legionnaires approached them and said to Jean-Paul, "Sir, the chopper just reported in, they'll be here in five minutes."

Jean-Paul nodded in thanks and said, "Good, thank you lieutenant, I would like to personally thank you and your men for ensuring our safety these last two weeks. It allowed us to enjoy our time with the kids in peace and for this we are all very grateful."

The Legionnaire saluted and said, "All part of the job sir, but it was pleasure to be here. It was just as much a holiday for us as it was for you, being away from Avalon for a few weeks is quite relaxing, but unfortunately such times never last long."

Jean-Paul grinned at the man's response and said, "Trust me I know what you are talking about, my own job can be very tiring as well, though I guess it is more mentally taxing instead of physically."

The lieutenant grinned as well but before he could say something, Fleur, who had been looking at the sky, said, "There it is, I can see it." And indeed, the black shape of the Chinook got closer and bigger by the second until it hovered above them and landed softly on the grass before them.

When the rotors stopped spinning, the Legionnaires made their way inside and the quartet gave some final hugs before following them into the loading door of the Chinook, which closed behind them and the shortly after the rotors began spinning again and the Chinook rose up again and began on its journey eastward to Avalon.

Author's note:

I know this is a short one but there was really not much to tell about their stay in France. I promise that the next chapters will be a whole lot more exciting when the kids, and you all, find out who Thomas and Vasily are.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak.


	15. Chapter 15

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 15

They flew for maybe three hours when one of the pilots came walking into the cargo area where they were sitting on the floor, or in the case of the quartet, laying on a few blankets and playing a game of cards, and she said, "The island is in sight, we'll be landing shortly so please pack your bags and take a seat."

They all complied and the pilot made her way back into the cockpit shortly before they started their descent. It took only a few minutes before they made touchdown and the large cargo door opened up. They all left the chopper before the pilot closed the door again and the Chinook was hooked up to a tractor which pulled it into one of the hangars on the airfield.

When they were out they saw Dan and Ivan waiting for them and the kids gave both the men a hug and Harry took the opportunity to give Ivan his gift and he presented the giant Russian with the magical wallet.

Ivan was absolutely intrigued by the wallet, as Boltrock was a close guardian of his trade secrets and had refused to tell anyone besides his assistants how they made the bottom-less pouches. Hermione gave him and her father a short crash-course in rune-inscribing, before they made their way to the city at a leisurely pace.

When they reached the city they saw that the MPACS' had finally left dry-dock and were now both docked at the harbor where they were being finished. The keels of the two new MPACS' Aurora had commissioned were already visible on the bottom of the dry-docks and the entire area was a hub of activity.

The two MPACS were finally in the water and now the kids could properly appreciate their immense size. Both ships were 1,100 feet long and 260 feet wide. The hull was shaped like a catamaran with a long and deep hull on either side of the ship and in between them was the massive water-level hangar.

The bow had two massive doors, each 60 feet wide that opened up directly into the wet part of the hangar which would hold the landing ships that could drop the vehicles off at a beach.

The turrets were being placed as they were walking by, just as they had been last summer but thanks to Aurora's demand for greater firepower, they had to be moved and adjusted for the new specifications. The cannons would be installed later, once the hydraulic lifting system for the turrets was working.

The immense deck held two pairs of elevators, two at the bow connected to both the amphibious bay and the front hangar that would hold the Mil-MI's and two at the stern connected to the hangar that would hold the new Ospreys' if they were approved.

On the back of the starboard side of the massive ships where the equally massive superstructures which housed the bridge and the military command centre of the marine regiment that would be based on the respective ship.

All-in-all, the ships where just very big, and very heavily armed, floating fortresses and the grey/blue camouflage of the ships made them stand out against the green fields and low hills on the other side of the harbor.

The kids stared their eyes out at the ships until they heard a soft chuckle from behind them and when they turned around they saw Aurora and Gabrielle standing there. They carried identical grins and Gabrielle said, "And kids, what do you think about the Legion's pride and glory, once the cannons are installed, we can christen them and then it's time for their sea trials once they are stocked with equipment."

Aurora took over and said, "O and speaking about equipment, you guys up for a little trip? We need to speak to some friends about that, and I'm sure they'd like to meet you guys."

"MOM," the kids yelled in unison and Aurora and Gabrielle were crushed in a group hug by the quartet.

At that moment there came a soft growl from above them and they could see Furya flying towards them from across the harbor, she looked incredibly irritated and the source of that was clear. She was carrying an extremely large raven in her claws. The raven was obviously injured as its head hung a little limply and blood covered one of its wings.

"Is that… Carc?"

Gabrielle wasn't really asking but the kids looked confused and Dan said, "I don't know who that is but I have never seen such a large raven before."

Gabrielle shook her head softly and said a little offhandedly, "Nah you wouldn't, but he is carrying either very good, or very bad news."

The group looked up until Furya carefully dropped the wounded raven in Aurora's arms. Aurora made some weird sounding 'caw caw', like noises and the raven responded weakly.

Aurora's eyes narrowed and she growled once before carefully handing the raven to Gabrielle and saying, "Get him to McKenna, I need to kill something."

Before anyone could object or say anything, Aurora flamed away with Furya on her shoulder.

Shrugging Gabrielle quickly yelled something at a Legionnaire driving by them in a Humvee and the woman stopped abruptly. They all got in and Gabrielle said to the woman behind the wheel, "Hospital, A.S.A.P."

The woman nodded and they drove away on a breakneck speed towards the large white building in the middle of the city.

When they arrived at the hospital, Gabrielle jumped out of the Humvee and ran into the open doors towards a waiting healer McKenna who she had warned over her earpiece.

McKenna was accompanied by two nurses and a rolling bed on which Gabrielle carefully laid the raven. Turning to McKenna she said, "I don't care what it takes, but in Merlin's name you have to save him, we cannot allow him to die. If he dies… I don't want to even think about what _He_ would do."

McKenna nodded curtly and along with the nurses she rushed the raven inside while Gabrielle turned back to the others. They looked at her curiously and Ivan said, "I do not understand, that bird is nearly dead, why not just end its suffering?"

Gabrielle's eyes turned black and she hissed, "Don't ever say that again. You have no idea _who's_ bird that is."

Ivan swallowed at the concern in her voice and Harry said carefully, "Then who's bird is it?"

Gabrielle closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths before turning to Harry and opening her eyes again. They saw that they had returned to the familiar blue she shared with Aurora. "That raven is called Carc, and he is the familiar of a very old, and very powerful being."

"Exactly how old and how powerful are we talking about?" Dan asked carefully.

"I have no idea how old he is, but he is older than Aurora and me. We first met him when we were 48 and he was already a very old man by then. And about power, well he's in the same list as Melody and us, so we don't want to anger him."

Ivan and Dan well remembered what those three were capable of and they swallowed almost simultaneously while the kids looked confused and Ginny asked, "Ehh, who is Melody?"

Gabrielle was still a little on edge so her answer was a little short, "Giant snake, guards Hogwarts, we'll introduce you guys when school begins again."

At that moment Aurora returned in a flash of blue fire. Furya was still on her shoulder but the little dragon had blood dripping from her teeth and she was chewing on something. In her hands Aurora carried two limp, bleeding, and half scorched bird-like creatures with a long lizard's tail.

At their questioning looks she answered, "Flying Cockatrices, adult couple. We must have missed them during the purge of their island three years ago, they had a nest and the eggs where near to hatching. I destroyed the eggs but these two we'll send back home with Carc, once he has recovered."

Turning to Gabrielle she added softly, "How is he?"

Gabrielle shrugged a little and said, "No idea, McKenna is with him right now and they're doing their best but all we can do is wait."

Aurora nodded thoughtfully and said suddenly, "Charles."

Said elf appeared with a 'pop' and bowed before saying, "You called Mistress?"

Aurora nodded and handed him the two corpses she still held in her hand, "Get these on ice and make sure they don't rot, they're evidence."

Charles nodded and carefully taking a hold of the two bird-like creatures he popped away again.

At that moment one of the nurses who had left with McKenna came back and handed a small leather cylinder to Gabrielle before saying, "This was on the raven's leg. Something has attacked him and nearly tore off his right wing, we managed to stabilize him and he's in surgery right now. It'll be a few days before he can fly again but he'll be all right to go in a few hours." The nurse bowed and left back inside.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle let out a relieved sigh and Aurora muttered, "Thank my father for that." Turning to Gabrielle she added, "What does it say?"

Gabrielle had removed a piece of parchment from the cylinder and smiled while handing it to her wife who read it. 

_A & G,_

 _Found your needs,_

 _Bring quality, 1649 or earlier._

 _Not that unicorn piss from 1884 you brought last time._

 _Coordinates are, 55°15'10.4"N 5°06'59.5"W_

 _Come quickly._

 _R._

Aurora actually made a fist-pump when she read it and said, "YES," startling the others.

"What's going on?" asked Harry, "What does that letter say?"

Aurora grinned and said, "It's the location of a deposit of titanium ore, the metal we use to make everything we use, from the EXO's to the MPACS'."

"Why do you only use titanium?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Because," grinned Gabrielle, "it is the second most magic-resistant material in the world, as well as being one of the strongest kinds of metal there are. We know of only two metals that are stronger in their purest form, first is our armor. Second is something that was made by the goblins and they called, 'Karzak Zdahl' which roughly translates to 'steel from Karzak."

"What's Karzak?" asked Fleur and Ginny at the same time, unlike Harry and Hermione, they didn't know more about the goblin history than they were taught at Hogwarts. Aurora had not reached that part yet as they would be addressing the goblins in second year.

The others all looked a little on edge, even Dan and Ivan as Boltrock had often lamented to them, that they didn't have it at their disposal anymore.

Turning to her partner Gabrielle said, "You want to tell them love, after all you are their history professor."

The others looked up at this and Aurora said a little more serious, "Sure." Before turning to the two girls. "Karzak is the name of the ancient capital of the First Goblin Empire. It was lost during the eleventh century when an earthquake caused immense damage to the city and killed nine out of every ten inhabitants. It also messed up the ward scheme that protected the city and its location was soon removed from the minds of _everyone_ who knew about where it was.

It happened to be the only location in the world where Karzak Zdahl could be found and the loss of the city was a huge blow to goblin kind. It forced the survivors to seek refuge elsewhere around the world. During the glory days of the city it housed more than a-hundred-thousand goblins, but sadly only a few thousand survived the disaster.

From the more than two-hundred clans, only eighty-four remained and the survivors soon started fighting amongst each other for dominance over the remaining clans. Before it could come to civil war though, one of the ancestors of Ragnok stepped forward. He was from a side line of the old ruling house and held some authority and respect. He proposed to reform their society and created the Goblin Council, which rules the goblin nation till this day.

Ragnok's family has always been at the head of the council since those days but he cannot force his will on anyone. Each clan head has a vote and the majority always wins, he can only offer advice and has the most respect amongst them.

The goblin council has offered an immense reward to anyone who can rediscover the location of Karzak, but alas, no one has been successful so far. We ourselves have searched far and wide for centuries but we never found it."

Fleur and Ginny nodded in understanding and Fleur asked, "But what is so special about that metal?" she found the name unpronounceable so didn't even try to speak it out loud.

At this the others grinned and Gabrielle said, "If forged into armor, it makes the wielder completely immune to any direct magical attack. If someone conjures a two-thousand pound rock above your head and drops it on you, you'll still die. But not a single spell, not even the killing curse, will affect you if you wear Karzak Zdahl."

Aurora nodded and added, "It was the base for the goblins military might, sadly only the Karzak Zuhl, or the Guards of Karzak, the goblins official army, was allowed to wear it so most of the metal was lost when the city was destroyed. Only a few items remain worldwide and they are coveted as the biggest treasure by goblin kind. I believe Ragnok has a double bladed battleaxe with a blade made of Karzak Zdahl. That weapon could be sold for literally billions of Galleons, but he never would as Ragnok values it even above his own life."

All the kids were silent at this as even Harry and Hermione had not heard of that part before.

Gabrielle nodded sadly and said, "In Transylvania I told you that we always had good relations with the goblins, well they stem from those days. When Karzak fell, many goblins were wounded and they had lost everything, we heard about it and decided to help them. We sent a fleet filled with supplies and healers to their refuge in Ireland and they never forgot it. We even helped them broker a deal to gain possession of the ground on which Gringotts is built, gaining us their everlasting gratitude and a promise of mutual support."

The kids now looked wide-eyed and Harry asked, "Who was the original owner of the ground?"

Gabrielle smiled a little apologetically and said, "I'm sorry Harry, but it is not the place nor the time to tell you that. When you turn fifteen, you four will be told a lot of things when you gain your inheritance. But I can tell you this, the Lord of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter has a whole lot more influence than anybody in the Wizengamot could even imagine."

At this Harry and the girls got identical grins on their faces. They knew enough about Aurora and Gabrielle to know when there was something that they could not tell because of some law or spell, but she still told them what they wanted to know. It was the Potter's who sold the goblins that piece of land and apparently there were some very interesting conditions accompanying that agreement.

They leisurely made their way towards the Vault and when they reached the airfield they entered the small hangar that served as the entrance. Taking the elevator down they saw that unlike the last time the kids had been there, the gigantic cavern was not filled with hundreds of vehicles and cannons, but with dozens upon dozens of forges on five long construction lines at which both humans and goblins were working attentively.

At the other end of the cavern they could see the end of the construction lines and there was a small group of Legionnaires hanging around. "Behold," Aurora said with a grin, "this is the construction site for the new EXO's, we have just over nineteen months to outfit every single Legionnaire with their new EXO suits.

Currently we are equipping fifteen Legionnaires a day, so that leaves us with roughly eighty weeks of work. That said Boltrock decided it would be best to redecorate and he moved the vehicles to one of the hangers above ground.

At the moment we have three separate projects running, in here the EXO's are being constructed. In one of the hangars they have set up a production line for the Mammoths, which will be fired up as soon as we get a new source of titanium ore, as the remaining stores we have are being used for the MPACS and EXO's which have been given priority. And finally in the dry-docks we are building another two MPACS'."

The kids looked a little impressed by everything going on around them and they silently followed the four adults as Aurora and Gabrielle led them to the small side cave where they had seen Boltrock tinker with the first prototype last summer.

The goblin master engineer was standing in front of a large anvil and was hammering away furiously at a piece of red hot titanium, and was muttering curses under his breath. "If only they could get that blasted cannon to fire, oh then it'd like to see that pig-arse faced idiot's face.

Bloody arrogant moron, saying that it doesn't work. If I tell them it works, it bloody works, AAAHRG," that last part was yelled through the workshop as Boltrock missed a blow in his anger. The piece of red-hot metal sprung from the anvil and landed in the forge next to it, spraying glowing coals over half the shop, with one of them hitting Boltrock on one of his muscular, and bare, lower arms.

"CURSE THE GODS OF KARZAK," he quickly put his burned arm in the through next to the forge and kept swearing under his breath until he saw the group of visitors standing in the opening to his private domain.

"What are you doing here?" he growled out, "Need to 'borrow' another one of my babies?"

Aurora managed to grin and said, "No Boltrock, we have come to brighten your day. How long do you need to set up a fully functioning mining operation and to start the digging?"

Boltrock looked up at this and promptly hit his head on one of the points of the anvil. Yelling another dozen choice curse words, he rubbed his temple and turned to Aurora before saying, "What are you talking about?"

She handed him the piece of parchment Carc had brought with him and after reading it his eyes began to shine, "Give me three days and two-hundred men, and I'll get it done."

Now Aurora and Gabrielle shared his grin and Aurora said, "That is good to hear Boltrock. Please see to it as soon as possible as we desperately need to get everything running again. We need those Mammoths as soon as you can build them, after that little trifle in Transylvania I'm afraid we'll be needing them before long."

Boltrock nodded curtly and put his words into action, he pushed a button on the forge and the flames went out instantly. Replacing his leather apron with a simple shirt, he gathered a few tools and put them in a pouch on his belt before making his way out of the workplace.

On his way out he added over his shoulder, "If you two want to join me in scouting out the island, it'll take me a few hours to gather everything I need, so you can take care of your own business before we leave."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in acceptance before they followed Boltrock and led the group out of the workshop as well and they returned to the surface. "So, what's next?" asked Ginny with a grin at the clear blue sky when they once again stood beneath it.

"Now," Gabrielle said on a slightly regretful tone, "now it is time for us to show you four what we talked about, if you still want to see it."

The mood changed noticeably, both Dan and Ivan looked shocked, the tone was enough for them to make a very good guess of what they would be seeing. The kids turned serious as well but they nodded none-the-less, "We do," Harry said softly to his mothers.

"Then follow us," Gabrielle replied. Dan and Ivan bade them farewell as they had no desire to relive the memories of the massacres they had participated in. And through the eyes of Aurora and Gabrielle those memories would be much more up close and personal.

The two ancient women commandeered a Humvee and the driver brought them and the kids up to the great castle. When they arrived at the gates of Camelot they were met by Anderson and to their surprise by Sirius and Remus.

The three men looked serious and Anderson needed only one look from Aurora and Gabrielle to realize that they would go on with the proceedings. Sirius and Remus looked at the kids with an unusual grim look on their faces and Sirius was the first to speak.

"We cannot stop you four from going on with this, as like you already told Aurora and Gabrielle, you have to get used to the sights of blood and death, if you ever want to survive on the frontlines. But at least we can offer a few less violent memories to make the process a little better to manage and slowly build it up for you four.

Remus and I have memories from our times fighting the Death Eaters, first with the aurors and later with the MSS. Those fights were nothing compared to the massacres the Legion dealt with, but they still show people getting hurt, people dying and innocent people made to suffer. It is just a lot less bloody then most of Aurora's and Gabrielle's memories."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked thankful at Sirius and Remus and Gabrielle said, "That is a very good idea, I think it would be best if we kept the viewings to one or two at a time to let them get used to it and to build it up slowly."

The others all agreed and the quartet looked a little relieved as though they still thought it for the best, they weren't especially looking forward to it. After all, they were only second years, even though their height and build made them seem closer to beginning fourth years.

Anderson led them to his office where he placed his pensieve on his desk before leaving the room to do something else. Just like Dan and Ivan, he didn't feel the urge to view battles of the past, when so many had yet to be fought.

Aurora motioned for them to all take a place while Remus placed his wand on his temple and withdrew a long, thin shining strand of memory. He carefully placed the memory in the pensieve before sitting down while Gabrielle explained the process to the kids.

"This is a pensieve kids. It allows you to view memories from yourself or others and enables for more people to view them at once. What Remus just did was removing a copy of a memory from his mind and placing it in the pensieve so we could all see it."

She motioned for them to stand up and said, "Now if at any time any of you feel it is too much, just jump up and you'll exit the pensieve." The kids nodded and she showed them how to enter the pensieve by placing her right index finger into the floating substance.

The other quickly followed her example and soon they found themselves in a dark alley, somewhere in a big city judging by the sounds around them.

"This is London in 1976 shortly after the Legion entered the war and the Ministry was finally able to go on the offensive." Remus voice was eerily soft as they followed the group of around two dozen witches and wizards, all dressed in the green dragon-hide uniforms of aurors.

"This memory is of our last raid under Ministry command. Sirius and I were recruited by McAndrews two days later." Remus pointed himself and Sirius out amongst the group before he continued.

"We are about to witness the assault on one of the Death Eater's safe houses in downtown London. Amongst the expected occupants where Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, who even then were widely known as staunch supporters of Voldemort. Unfortunately for us, they weren't present."

When the group of aurors left the alley Remus became silent as they watched what happened next.

The target was a small unassuming two story row house of red brick. It had several large windows on the ground floor that offered an excellent view of the entire street.

The aurors split up in two groups of twelve, one went to the front of the house and the other made its way around the row and presumably made its way to the back of the house. They watched as the group with Remus and Sirius carefully made its way to the front of the house.

Two aurors split off on both sides of the group and started waving their wands in similar patterns while mumbling soft spells. "They are warding the area from muggle attention and also putting up anti apparition and anti portkey wards to prevent the Death Eaters from escaping." Remus explained to the kids.

They waited for maybe two minutes before a loud 'BANG' could be heard from the back of the house and they saw Remus and Sirius raise their wand in an identical move and they said as one, "Reducto," The front of the house exploded inwards, revealing six or seven black clad figures who were scrambling for cover.

The twelve aurors charged forwards to the house but before they made it the Death Eaters inside had regained their senses and were firing curses at the aurors. Two of the aurors were hit. A wizard was hit in his chest with a 'Bombarda'. The dragon hide of his uniform absorbed most of the force but he was still blown off his feet and slammed into a car a few yards behind him. And a witch was hit in the face with a nasty purple curse that slammed her backwards to the ground and left a large, smoking, open gash across her face, she was obviously dead.

When the kids saw the witch fall, and what was left of her face, Fleur and Ginny turned green and Remus and Sirius quickly conjured a pair of buckets for them to throw up in. Harry and Hermione didn't have to throw up but they were obviously having trouble trying not to.

The two fallen aurors were just left behind while the remaining ten entered the house and engaged the Death Eaters. Two of the Death Eaters were killed, one by Remus and the other by an unknown witch. The remaining five were captured, but not before they injured three aurors and killed another one.

This time it was a wizard who died as he was hit with an 'Avada Kedavra', from a blond witch who was one of the two Death Eaters killed. Remus' send a Diffindo at her and caught her in the neck, opening her throat and causing her to bleed out in seconds.

In the meantime, the other group of aurors had joined up with them, bringing another three dead Death Eaters and two captured. They had suffered one fatality as two of them carried a limp body in green robes between them. The wizard was missing his left arm and part of his chest was scorched, he was obviously hit with some kind of fire curse.

The kids were still looking pale, but not green anymore so Sirius vanished the two buckets that Ginny and Fleur had used before they all jumped up and left the pensieve.

They found themselves standing in Anderson's office again and Gabrielle motioned for them to sit down. When they were all seated she and Aurora turned to the quartet and letting out a deep sigh Gabrielle asked, "How are you feeling guys?"

Harry tried to say something but the words wouldn't leave his throat and he coughed a few times. Sirius summoned a glass pitcher with water and several glasses before filling them and handing one to each of the kids.

Harry drained his in one gulp before he was able to speak. "That… that was one of the worst things I have ever seen."

The girls nodded in agreement and Fleur said, "If this was nothing compared to what the Legion has done, then I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it. It was horrible to see that poor woman being cut down just for doing her job."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded sadly and Aurora said, "That is one of the things you four will have to get used to Fleur, we will be going to war and in war there are always casualties. Regrettably, it is mostly the innocents that are the victims of war."

Gabrielle added, "Voldemort's army consisted of two distinct groups. The inner circle which was maybe a hundred strong and were the ones with the silver masks. Those were by far the most dangerous and counted the most vicious amongst their numbers like, Malfoy, the Lestranges, the Carrows, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson and many others of that sort.

The other group and by far the largest where what we call the cannon fodder, the expendable foot soldiers who could only achieve victory through strength of numbers. These numbered in the thousands and where the ones you saw in this memory."

Remus and Sirius nodded and this time Sirius stood up, pulled a memory from his mind and placed it in the pensieve. "If you guys are up for it, this is a memory of when Alastor, us two and a large group of others brought in Antonin Dolohov. One of the few inner circle members that were caught alive, thanks to the Ministry."

"Caught alive?" Fleur asked hesitantly.

Aurora nodded and replied, "Indeed, the Ministry and the Order of the Phoenix where the ones who actively tried to take them alive. The goblins and us were mostly focusing on killing as many as we could while the Ministry more or less tried to force us to hand over everyone we caught alive."

"Why, why didn't you try to capture them alive?" asked Ginny with a little hesitation.

"Because," Gabrielle replied on a grim tone, "they tried to kill us, so why shouldn't we return the favor. And besides, if we captured someone they could buy their way out of Azkaban, so we just kill them, because then its problem solved."

The kids nodded softly at this, it did make sense even if it was a little disconcerting. "But what about those who were under the imperious curse?" asked Hermione.

Aurora looked grim and answered a little sadly, "Like I said Harry, unfortunately its mostly the innocents who die in war."

The kids paled a little at that piece of information and Harry said, "So there is a very good chance that there were many people amongst the casualties that were technically innocent?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle said, "Yes Harry, but think of it this way. If hundreds of people are trying to kill you, and you do not know who is under the imperious curse and who is not, then you have to make a choice. Will you try to stun them and risk getting killed yourself and letting them go on to continue killing innocent people. Or will you just kill as many as you can and prevent them from harming anyone else ever again, whether they are forced to do it or not?"

The kids were forced to acknowledge the truth in that reasoning and noticing their moods Gabrielle said, "That is why we are so glad that Boltrock has managed to create the MRS, with it we can scan people for Dark Marks and make the distinction between Death Eaters and innocent people. So this time there will hopefully be far less, if any, innocent casualties by our hands."

The kids did look a little relieved at this and seeing as there were not anymore questions, Gabrielle and Aurora stood up and Gabrielle said, "If you have no more questions and you are up for it, we should watch the next memory. But be warned, Dolohov did not go down without a fight."

The kids nodded softly and the group stood up to visit the next memory.

This time they landed on the outskirts of a small village and the group they met was far larger than in the previous memory. More than a hundred aurors had already been gathered and more where still appearing. It took a few minutes for the last to arrive and by that time their group had swelled to over a-hundred-and-fifty strong.

Alastor Moody was apparently in charge and they watched and listened as he gave the pre-raid briefing.

"All right you bunch of slackers listen up. Our target is Antonin Dolohov, he is one of the highest ranking Death Eaters still alive, seeing as those muggles were so kind to kill off most of the others."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle got a grin at Alastor's words and Gabrielle stage-whispered, "Remind me to thank Alastor next time I see him."

The memory Moody had kept talking and said, "Expect heavy resistance, as our intelligence suggests that his manor is one of the major bases of operations for the Death Eaters. Dolohov is a known necromancer so be wary for anything that might jump from the ground. Use fire on anything that is not living, and if you are not sure, just burn it anyway."

The past versions of Remus and Sirius grinned at Alastor's words and young Sirius whispered, "So that's why you're considered to be 'hot-tempered' Alastor."

Unfortunately for the young marauder, Alastor heard it and with a devilish smirk he said, "You know Mister Black, if you play with fire you get burned, so any last requests?" at those words Alastor nonchalantly aimed his wand at Sirius and growled softly, "Incend…"

Before Alastor could finish, Sirius quickly said with a little panic in his voice "I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY,"

There were several sniggers at Sirius' reaction and Alastor called his group to order again.

"Now you all know what to do, so let's go." The group made their way towards the borders of the manor ahead of them. Aiming their wands at the manor they started firing high powered curses in an attempt to overpower the wards so they could gain entrance to the manor."

It took them a few minutes to break through the wards, which was enough time for the Death Eaters to mount their defenses and dozens of black robed figures made their way out of the manor and onto the grounds where they erected makeshift barricades to take cover behind.

When the wards finally broke, Alastor led the charge of the aurors and they ran towards the manor en-mass. More than a few of the aurors were taken out during the charge, though most managed to erect portable wards that floated ahead of them and intercepted most of the Death Eaters' curses."

When the battle had dissolved into dozens upon dozens of smaller duels, the doors of the manor opened up and a burly man with a long, pale, twisted face stepped out of the manor. "YOU DARE ENTER MY DOMAIN? THAN PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR FOLLY." The man roared out over the ground before he raised his wand and said a few harsh sounding words in a strange language.

"That's Acheronian, the language of the necromantic arts" Gabrielle softly whispered to the kids in explanation.

The result of his words where shocking to say the least. All around the manor the ground exploded and corpses began crawling out at surprising speeds. Hundreds of corpses began running at the battling groups of wizards and witches.

The kids were looking shocked and with disgust at the mass of running corpses, many were in varying states of decomposition and many were missing parts of their bodies. Several were not more than skeletons with scraps of clothing hanging off of them. They could see men and women, children and elderly and even, to the dismay of the aurors, a pair of half rotting trolls, crawl their way out of the grounds. Apparently Dolohov had buried an army around his manor.

There where screams and yelling as the horde of reanimated corpses attacked everyone they could get their rotting hands on, be they auror or Death Eater.

Alastor watched as his forces where being overwhelmed and seemingly deciding that enough was enough, he picked his MSS badge from his leather trench-coat and slammed a fist on it. The badge glowed with an eerie blue light and soon they could make out the pops of apparition as reinforcements came streaming in.

The kids saw several faces they recognized as, Amelia Bones, Commander McAndrews, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minerva McGonagall and dozens of other MSS agents apparated to the sight of battle. The last one to arrive was no other than Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Minerva informed the old guy of why she left and he decided to come along and help." Aurora informed the kids when they looked expectantly at them for an explanation.

The aged headmaster immediately proved why he was often named as the only one Voldemort ever feared. ' _As if',_ scoffed Aurora silently when Ginny said as much. With a single flick of his wand, all the reanimated corpses where yanked into the air and with a second flick, they were dropped on a bare piece of the grounds. As soon as they were dropped, he moved his wand sideways in a swift move from left to right.

A massive blast of fire left his wand and incinerated the horde of corpses, returning them to the earth.

When the flames had burned down, Dumbledore turned to the battle which had quickly turned into the favor of the Ministry thanks to the aid of the MSS. Dolohov had found himself in a three-way duel with Alastor, Remus and Sirius.

To the dismay of the kids, Dolohov proved himself very capable as he hit Alastor in his face and tore off a chunk of his nose, knocking him out in the process. With the fall of one of their compatriots, Remus and Sirius doubled their efforts and turned to some more 'questionable' curses in their fight against Dolohov.

Remus and Sirius were soon joined by McAndrews and Amelia Bones, and with the four of them combined, they soon had Dolohov on his knees. McAndrews hit him with a shattering curse to his wand hand, destroying his wand in the process and turning Dolohov's right hand into a mass of twisted bones.

Sirius marched up to Dolohov and with a very un-wizard-like move, he kicked Dolohov in his groin, causing the Death Eater to fall over in pain. This only allowed Sirius to place a second kick directly to Dolohov's head, knocking him out and undoubtedly giving him quite the concussion. "That's for Arina." Sirius growled while he spat at the limp form of Dolohov.

As one the group looked at Sirius but he seemed to preoccupied to respond, so Remus did it in his stead. "Arina was Sirius' first girlfriend. They stopped dating during our final year at Hogwarts but they always remained friends, until Dolohov killed her a few weeks before this scene took place."

The kids looked shocked at this, seeing Sirius's downcast look they felt a tinge of sympathy. If anyone would dare to harm any of their friends they would undoubtedly do exactly the same but, a whole lot worse. Something about claws, fangs and certain 'sensitive' parts of the human body.

They left the pensieve and soon they found themselves back in Anderson's office in Camelot. They sat down again and Aurora and Gabrielle looked a little worriedly at the quartet.

"How are you guys feeling?" Gabrielle asked carefully to the kids who were still remarkably subdued.

"That…that was, that was truly horrible." Hermione eventually managed to say.

The other three nodded in agreement and Harry said softly, "Did that man seriously bury an army around his house?"

His mothers nodded softly and Gabrielle said, "Yes he did. When we learned what had happened from McAndrews, we tried to get our hands on him, but the Wizengamot refused to turn him over. He was a pure-blood after all, and it was well known what we did with any Death Eater we could get our hands on."

Aurora nodded in agreement and added, "There is not a single branch of magic we despise as much as necromancy. The dead are dead, and should not be disturbed by anyone. Every necromancer we knew of, we killed on sight, except for Dolohov and a few of his companions who were captured by the Ministry."

"So I guess I did speak the truth when we first met Draco on the express, the only reason his father is alive is because the Ministry caught him."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Aurora got a small grin when she said, "Speaking of dear old Lucy, would you guys like to see what I did with him."

The kids got identical dark grins and Fleur said with a very cute growl to her voice, "Oh hell yes."

Author's note:

I'm sorry but this really seemed to be the best moment to create another cliffy.

So up next is the part where Harry and the girls see firsthand exactly how much damage Aurora and Gabrielle can do to a human body. Guess how they're going to react.

I have decided to write out a little contest for you if you are interested. The first one who gives me a review with the correct answers to the following questions, gets to make up a character that will be featured in the story. Credit will be given, and the way in which this character will die is yours to decide. The questions are as follows;

How long will Gilderoy Lockhart last at Hogwarts?

What will cause him to lose his position as a teacher?

In what way will he leave the castle?

I wish you all good luck with guessing and the winner will be contacted directly by me, through means of a PM, before I will announce that we have a winner. So unfortunately this necessitates for you to have a FanFiction account in order to be able to receive a reply.

The coordinates in the letter belong to an uninhabited island called Ailsa Craig. It lies off the western coast between Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is a bird sanctuary in real life, but for the sake of the story, it is just a bare island with absolutely not a single living being on it.

Till next time

Medieval Maniak


	16. Chapter 16

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 16

 _Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Aurora got a small grin when she said, "Speaking of dear old Lucy, would you guys like to see what I did with him."_

 _The kids got identical dark grins and Fleur said with a very cute growl to her voice, "Oh hell yes."_

Aurora and Gabrielle got an identical grin as the kids and Aurora said, "Well then, let's get to it shall we."

Both Remus and Sirius excused themselves while Sirius said, "As much as I hate that, that _thing,_ I have no desire to witness what you did to it."

Aurora and Gabrielle shrugged and while Aurora put her right index finger in to the pensieve, the two men left the office after saying goodbye to the ones that remained.

Before the kids put their fingers in the pensieve, Aurora said, "Now a small word of caution, we will be watching everything that happened last Christmas. From the moment the attack began, till when I joined you in the barracks after interrogating Lucy.

If you think that last scene was brutal, think again, as you are about to witness the outcome of a battle fought on the Legion's terms. No mercy and no prisoners. You will see Gabrielle and me cut apart witches and wizards. You will see people being torn apart by hellfire rounds. You will see me torture a person. These are all things that are extremely bloody and violent, so if at any time you guys think it is too much, just jump out and we will not think any less of you."

The kids nodded in understanding but with a new found source of resolve, they unanimously decided to watch the whole scene, no matter how bad it got. They all put their fingers into the pensieve and were pulled in to watch their first taste of muggle warfare.

They landed next to the memory versions of Aurora and Gabrielle while they were waiting to begin their assault on the mercenary encampment.

The kids watched with wide eyes when the assault began. They saw the trolls being torn apart by the 30mm auto cannons of the Apache's. They witnessed the destructive power of the Mammoths as they unleashed their napalm on the Acromantula. They looked with white faces as they saw dozens of witches and wizards being torn to pieces by the shrapnel shells of cannons of the Mammoths and the Hellfire rounds of the Legionnaires.

When Aurora and Gabrielle left the cover of the trees and started cutting the mercenaries to pieces, the quartet had to look away. It was one thing to see strangers die by strangers' hands, but a whole other thing to watch people who you have always seen as kind and loving, tear apart human beings without a second glance.

The kids looked away until the gunfire and the screaming stopped, a deathly silence fell over the clearing until they saw Aurora interrogate the captives. When the first captive was killed by Gabrielle, the kids had to suppress the urge to throw up as they saw the two halves of the dead man's brain slide from his split skull and fall on the bloodied ground with a splash.

When they saw how Aurora calmly executed the last two captives the girls shivered in disgust and Harry asked with loathing in his voice, "Why did you kill them, they had surrendered and where no threat to you?"

Aurora looked calmly at the kids and said, "I told you how the Legion fights, no mercy and no prisoners. These things had no problem in killing innocent men and elderly, they raped women and children, they deserved to die. And besides, if we had captured them then what, we have no prison on Avalon and if we hand them to the Ministry they will tell them what we are capable of. We have to keep the size of our forces and the strength of our weapons a secret for as long as possible, Voldemort has spies everywhere in the Ministry."

The kids nodded softly in understanding but Hermione asked, "But isn't it in violation of the Geneva convention to execute prisoners or to kill unarmed people?"

"It is," Gabrielle said calmly, "But we were not invited for that convention, as we were not an officially recognized army until after the end of the First Wizarding War. Our enemies see muggles as lesser beings, so our soldiers are killed on sight, whether they surrender or not, so why should we capture them in turn?"

The kids were quiet at that and they watched in silence as Aurora and Gabrielle made their way towards the barracks, accompanied by Dan and Ivan. When they saw what Aurora did to Lucy, the kids felt a certain savage pleasure as they watch the once proud and arrogant man being broken down until he was nothing but a crying pile of misery.

When they left the memory the kid sat down heavily and they dropped their heads in their hands in an identical move. Aurora and Gabrielle kept the silence going until the kids broke it, which took them a minute or five. Finally, it was Ginny who spoke softly.

"You were totally right, the Legion is a whole different level than what the aurors are doing. I had no idea a human body contained so much blood."

"Yea, me neither," said the other three as one.

"I… I'm still having trouble with that you just shot those men, I know what you said but still, my family has always told me that you should give people a second chance."

The others nodded softly at Ginny's words and Fleur added, "I agree. I know you said it was necessary but how can you do it without feeling anything about it. I know that people die in war and I think I'd be able to kill someone in battle, but to just murder a man who is unarmed, I don't think I could do it."

Aurora and Gabrielle sat quietly until Gabrielle spoke up. "We know how you feel, when we were young we felt much the same, but we had to grow up fast, and so do you. The world is a cruel place and despite what Dumbledore thinks, most who are given a second chance, don't deserve it."

The group let out a collective sigh and Harry asked, "Was that the worst of your memories?"

Both women sadly shook their heads and Aurora said, "No Harry, most are similar to the one we just relived, but some are on a far larger scale. There are a few that we won't show you until you have witnessed death and bloodshed firsthand."

The kids nodded softly in understanding and another silence fell in the office.

After a while it was broken by Gabrielle, "Now we're going to send you guys home for the rest of the day, enjoy yourselves and get all of your clothes washed, tomorrow we are taking you to meet Thomas and Vasily. We will join you later, we have a meeting to attend."

Fleur asked curiously, "A meeting with who?"

But the two adults just shook their heads and Aurora said. "That doesn't matter, depending on the outcome, maybe we'll take you to meet him someday."

The kids nodded softly and they stood up from their chairs before making their way out of Anderson's office and out of the castle. When they exited the large gates, Gabrielle led them to a unmanned Humvee and took the wheel.

She drove the group towards the city where they stopped before Emma's dental practice as they saw her close the door. Apparently she was done early today.

"Hey mom," Hermione said when she opened the door after the Humvee had come to a stop.

Emma looked up and when she saw the kids, she gave them all a big hug and said, "It's so great to see you guys again, did you have fun in France, no need to tell me about Transylvania as Dan has already told me everything."

Emma joined them in the Humvee and Gabrielle drove the remaining distance to the steel building that housed the floo connection. In the meantime, Emma was told about everything the kids had done in France, except for the things which Apolline had told them about being Veela.

When they arrived at the steel building, they all entered and headed towards the floo room where Aurora and Gabrielle said goodbye to the others. One by one the kids and Emma entered the floo and vanished.

When Emma had left at last, Aurora and Gabrielle joined hands and flamed over to the hospital.

They reappeared in front of the entrance and quickly made their way inside, asking directions at the information desk they went to the relevant room.

They arrived at a single bed room on the fourth floor of the hospital where healer McKenna was carefully waving her wand over the bandaged wing of Carc. The raven was conscious and cawed softly.

"How is our patient doing McKenna?" Gabrielle asked when they entered the room.

"Remarkably well I must say," came the reply. "He appears to be recovering much faster than I anticipated, and if it continues like this he'll be able to fly again in a day or two."

"That's great news," Aurora responded, "When can he leave the hospital, as I'm sure his owner would love to see him again."

"As soon as I finish with my diagnostic charms he is good to go. I'm just checking for any possible complications which might have occurred during the surgery."

Aurora and Gabrielle waited patiently for a few minutes while McKenna finished up her work.

When she was done she stepped away from the bed and Carc stood up carefully from where he had been laying. When he decided that he could remain standing he walked across the bed a few times before Gabrielle approached it, and lowered her arm towards the bed, so he could hop onto her left shoulder.

With the large raven on her shoulder, Gabrielle thanked McKenna before she and Aurora left the room and headed back downstairs. They leisurely made their way towards the airfield where Boltrock was overseeing the loading of two dozen Chinooks.

Two squadrons of Mil-Mi's stood besides the Chinooks but instead of the usual tanks, they carried heavy machinery like bulldozers, tracked loaders, excavators and dump trucks. The machines had been driven onto special platforms that would allow the Mil-Mi's to pick them up.

When Boltrock saw them approaching he said a few last words to one of his assistants and made his way over to them. "I really hope that drunk is right, as I don't think my nerves will take it if this proves to be a false alarm."

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at Boltrock's expression and Aurora said, "Don't worry, he has a nose for these kinds of things. If he says he has found a mine, then he has found one. We expressly told him to look for as large a deposit as possible, as we need a lot of it."

Boltrock nodded silently before he led them to several Chinooks that were slowly filling with personnel, both humans and goblins. It took a few more minutes for everything to finish loading, but before long the helicopters lifted off and the air-fleet flew off northwards.

It took them about half an hour to reach the island. It was shaped roughly like an egg laying on its side in the water and with a small triangle of flat land on the side. They could see a very large luxury yacht laying in the water besides the flat land and a small group of people could be seen walking over the beaches.

Boltrock threw an incredulous look at Aurora and Gabrielle and said on an exasperated tone, "Did you bother to inquire who the owner of this island is?"

The two women shared a look, turned slightly red and said at the same time, "Ehh, oops."

Boltrock slapped his forehead and groaned, "You've got to be kidding me."

Gabrielle quickly put a hand to her ear and said in her earpiece, "All helicopters stay in camouflage and remain airborne until further notice."

Meanwhile Aurora had walked to the cockpit and was talking to the pilots. "Turn around, get out of sight, drop the camouflage and re-approach the island. Set us down next to the old fort." The pilots nodded and turned the Chinook around.

Ten minutes later the Chinook landed on the island next to a small group of people, it appeared to be group of tourists as they were all dressed in summer clothes and one of them appeared to be a guide.

When the helicopter had landed, Aurora and five masked and uniformed Legionnaires left the Chinook through the side door and approached the group of people.

A man in expensive clothes stepped forward but hesitated when he saw the masked soldiers leaving the helicopter. He swallowed once before puffing up his chest and stepping forward again. "What is the meaning of this, this island is private property and you are trespassing."

Aurora also stepped forward and went to stand directly in front of the man. He reminded her of Lucy Malfoy in his manner of speaking and she instantly felt an intense dislike for the man. She pulled out her Legion identification and showed it to the man. "General A. Emrys, Supreme Commander of the United Nations Special Forces, are you the owner of this island?"

The man paled as he looked at the badge and swallowed again before stuttering, "Y… yes I… I… I am. Wha… what ar… are y… you doing he… here?"

Aurora looked with a calculating look at the man as if she was deciding how much to tell him. "What are you currently using this island for?"

The man looked confused and said, "Well for not… nothing. I… I mean it is just a ba… barren piece of rock."

"Good," replied Aurora, "Then you will have no problem with parting with it for a reasonable price. This island is of strategic interest to the military and we are going to construct a base here, please name a reasonable price and we will transfer the money to you."

Now the man was smelling coin and he instantly began using a more business-like tone. "Ten-million pounds."

Aurora looked incredulously at the man and said, "I said reasonable. If you cannot do that we will simply seize the island and you'll be lucky to get even half of the value. I'm willing to give you one-and-a half-million pounds, which is a more than reasonable price for such a bare rock."

They kept bartering over and over and finally settled on a price of two-million-two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand pounds. The man left his bank information with Aurora and she told him the money would be transferred to him before nightfall.

The group of tourists were escorted back to their yacht and it was quickly turned around and made its way back to the British coastline. As soon as the yacht was out of sight Gabrielle called for the other helicopters to begin landing while Aurora turned to Boltrock.

"Please get the island made unplottable as soon as possible, we need to avoid any more civilian interest into this matter."

Boltrock gave her a look that screamed, 'Did you seriously think I didn't know that'. He remained quiet though and merely nodded before walking towards the landing helicopters.

Gabrielle left the Chinook with Carc still on her shoulder and made her way towards her partner. Gabrielle slid an arm around Aurora's waist and said, "I hope he shows up soon, I'm not sure how long we can keep Boltrock from blowing up half the island in his haste to find the titanium ore."

Her words proved true as behind them Boltrock had been giving orders and teams of goblins were spreading out over the island. They carried bags with equipment for taking ore samples and large amounts of explosives, and in their hands they held pickaxes and shovels.

Suddenly a voice came from behind them, a voice that was so old you could feel the age of the world in its words. "Greetings, dragon-blood it has been a while."

Aurora and Gabrielle turned around to face the man standing behind them. It was a man with long dark grey hair and an immensely long beard that was twisted and knotted into his belt. He was dressed in a black suit that seemed to be several centuries old the silver buttons gone dull with age. He leaned onto a knotted staff that seemed to be rooted into the earth and he was hunched over, giving the illusion that he was far shorter than he was in reality.

"Good evening Rubeon, it is good to see you again."

The man nodded slowly and you could hear his muscles crack as if they hadn't been used in decades. Carc cawed softly and Gabrielle walked towards the man and sat Carc unto the knotted tip of his staff.

The raven cawed mournfully to the old man and when he looked up, Rubeon's eyes burned with the same black fire that Aurora and Gabrielle sometimes showed when they were well and truly furious. "Who did this," his voice sounded like rocks grounding against each other while he spoke.

Aurora raised her hands in a calming effort and said very carefully, "It wasn't us. He was attacked by a couple of flying Cockatrices on his way to Avalon. I have already avenged him and if you'll allow me, I'll call one of our elves to bring you their bodies as proof."

Rubeon slowly inclined his head and Aurora said, "Charles," said elf appeared with a 'POP' and bowed before his mistresses. Before he could say anything Aurora said, "Please bring those birds Charles."

Charles bowed again and popped away. It took him only a few seconds to return, carrying the limp and half burned remains of the Cockatrices in his hands. On Aurora's urging, he laid the remains at Rubeon's feet. The old man stared at them for a long time, while Carc cawed softly to him. Finally, he nodded solemnly and said in the same slow manner as before, "I accept your apology. Have you brought what I requested"?

Aurora nodded and Gabrielle stepped forward, she removed one of the bottomless pouches from her belt and said, "In here are thirty barrels of Bordeaux from 1649, as you requested. You may taste it if you don't believe us."

A slow smile spread around his ancient features and he said, "I believe you, but I will taste it none the less, it has been decades since I had some decent wine."

Gabrielle nodded and setting the pouch down on the ground, she put her arms inside the widening opening and withdrew a large 50-gallon barrel with several handles on it.

She placed the barrel on the ground and grasping one of the handles on the side and another on the lid, she twisted the lid off and revealed the deep red wine within. Rubeon stepped towards the barrel and deeply inhaled the aroma of the wine before putting a hand in one of the pockets of his jacket and taking out a large one-third-gallon pitcher.

He sunk the pitcher in the red wine and filled it to the brim. Withdrawing the pitcher again he put it to his mouth and emptied it in one long swig. As he drank, his features seamed to smoothen as if centuries of worries where shed from his shoulders

To the amazement of everyone around, except for Aurora and Gabrielle, Rubeon emptied four pitchers before he looked up from his drink.

He led out a loud bellowing laugh and said on a tone that held a cheer as a bright spring morning, "Ahhh that really makes a man feel young again. You have kept word and so shall I. You there, goblin." He pointed towards Boltrock who looked less than impressed with his lack of manners.

"Come here my friend, so that I may show you where you must look."

Boltrock sighed and slowly shook his head while muttering under his breath about the man's lack of manners and disrespect to his race. But he approached them none-the-less.

When he stood before him Boltrock politely offered his hand and said, "My name is Boltrock, head of the weapons research division of Avalon."

Rubeon cheerfully shook his hand and said, "Rubeon, guardian spirit of nature, nice to meet you my friend."

Boltrock bowed slightly in a sign of respect, if he was indeed a guardian spirit than he held the same status as Aurora, Gabrielle, Melody and Ragnarok, and so he was worthy of his respect.

"None of that my friend, the only ones who bow before me are my enemies," Rubeon admonished cheerfully.

Boltrock nodded in acceptance and said, "Very well sir. If you would be so kind then as to show me where we have to dig, because we need to get this mine up and running within a week. If we can't then we will get behind schedule and that might prove catastrophic."

The old man, who now seemed to be less old but well and truly past the point of piss-drunk, laughed again and said, "Of course my friend, come follow me." He twisted the lid back on the barrel and put the barrel back in the bottomless pouch Gabrielle had given him. He placed the pouch in his pocket and led Boltrock towards the side of the large hill that loomed before them.

Several teams of goblins followed them and when they reached the rock Rubeon indicated a spot and said, "If you blow this here away till a depth of five feet, you'll hit right on the ore. It is rich, as the entire hill is run through with it and it spreads down deep into the earth for at least a few thousand feet deep and ten thousand feet wide."

Boltrock signaled the nearest goblin and he handed him his bag. Boltrock took out several pieces of C4 and at his directions, the other goblin dug a hole with his pickaxe. Boltrock put several lumps of C4 into the hole and after putting in a detonator he untwined the fuse before sticking it in the detonator.

"CLEAR THE AREA," he yelled before lighting the fuse.

It took about ten seconds for the fuse to burn up and with an explosion the side of the hill erupted in a cloud of rock pieces and dust.

When the dust had settled Boltrock was the first to approach the created crater and pumping his fist in a motion of victory he said, "YES, now we can begin."

At the bottom of the crater they could see a thick layer of the silvery grey titanium ore. At Boltrock's instructions several goblins jumped into the crater and started taking samples of the ore. Others went to mutter soft incantations to determine the richness of the deposit and to determine the stability of the rock beneath them.

In the meantime Rubeon walked back to where Aurora and Gabrielle where still standing next to his staff which was rooted into the earth and upon which Carc was still seated.

Aurora and Gabrielle inclined their heads to him and Gabrielle said, "Thank you for your help. We have a great need for this ore as we need it to create the weapons we need to win the war which the world will be facing in the near future."

Rubeon inclined his head in turn and said, "It was my pleasure. Now if you would be so kind as to drop me off at the main land again, I'd like to visit France again now that it is still summer."

The two women grinned and Gabrielle said, "Of course, do you want the quick route or the more comfortable route?"

Rubeon grinned in return and replied, "Well I'd like to sit in the sun again, so we'll take the quick route. Let me just get Carc inside, as he doesn't like your way of traveling."

At that he reached in his pocket again and withdrew a large bronze doorknob, he carelessly threw it over his shoulder and it landed on an open spot about ten yards behind him.

The doorknob wobbled a few times before it rose up to a height of about three feet and hung still. What happened next was like watching a movie of a flower grow, the doorknob seemed to spew out a mass of black wooden planks and formed a door. The door spread out into many more wooden planks and a small, wooden, two story row house seemed to build itself around the door.

It took maybe two minutes before the house was finished and Rubeon walked towards it. He grasped the doorknob and opened the door before turning around and picking up his staff. When he pulled the staff out of the ground they could see that a large clutch of roots had sprouted from its end and had taken a hold in the ground.

He reached his hand out for Carc to hop on and once the raven had done so, he placed him on his shoulder before walking back to the house. He entered it and a minute later he left it again, but now without Carc and without his staff. He closed the door behind him and twisted the doorknob shut. Immediately the house was 'sucked' back into the doorknob and the large bronze item fell down on the grass.

He picked it up and put it back into his pocket before walking over to where Aurora and Gabrielle were waiting for him. "Very well let's get going."

Aurora nodded in acceptance and said, "I'll take you, Gabrielle will stay here to keep an eye on things."

He nodded and said, "Very well then, to the Mediterranean coast please."

Aurora nodded again and added to Gabrielle, "I'll stop by Gringotts and have Griphook transfer the money to that imbecile we bought the island from. I'll see you at home tonight." Gabrielle gave her a loving kiss before Aurora took Rubeon's arm and they flamed away.

The next day found all the inhabitants of Potter Manor, minus Dan, having breakfast at 08:30. Today they would be traveling abroad to meet with Thomas and Vasily, whoever they were, and afterwards Aurora and Gabrielle had promised the kids they would be visiting some very interesting places.

Harry suppressed a yawn before he asked, "So where does this Thomas live anyway?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared a grin and Gabrielle said, "In America, in Washington D.C. to be exact."

"Okay, and exactly how are we supposed to get there before nightfall as I doubt we'll be taking an international portkey."

Aurora grinned at Hermione's question and said, "The main group we'll be traveling with left last night and should be close to landing right now. We will be leaving in an hour and meet them in Washington, Gabrielle and I can just flame there and you guys are coming with us."

"Oh great, we're going to get burned again," muttered Ginny and Fleur at the same time.

"Oh suck it up kids, you guys shouldn't even be able to feel it, last time was probably just to soon after your bonding and that made it hurt a little."

The quartet grumbled a little but didn't say anything else about it as they finished their breakfast. When it was over they made their way back to their room to find all of their clothes waiting on their beds, the elves had washed everything for them. They started packing again and sorted their clothes into what they would probably need and put it in their trunks, and the rest which they put into their wardrobe.

When they were done packing they shrunk their trunks and put them in their pockets before heading back downstairs. They found the three women waiting for them in the lounge and said their goodbye's to Emma, who would be staying with Sirius and Ilona, since everyone else would be gone for a few days and she didn't want to be left alone.

At that moment Aurora's mask, which hung on her belt as she and Gabrielle were fully armored and armed, started beeping. She quickly put the mask on and talked softly for a few seconds before taking the mask off again.

"That was Anderson," she said in explanation, "He and the others have arrived at our destination so it's time for us to go as well."

Gabrielle nodded but the quartet looked a little hesitant until Aurora added, "Seriously guys, you need to stop worrying, its either this or sitting in an airplane for fourteen hours."

Harry sighed softly before he squared his shoulders and said, "Fine, let's just get it over with then."

He and Hermione gave Aurora a hand while Fleur and Ginny each took a hand of Gabrielle. After a last wave to Emma the two women focused on their destination and they flamed away.

When they landed the kids realized that Aurora and Gabrielle had been right, they didn't feel a thing this time. They had landed on a grass field behind a large white building and when the flames died down, they stood eye to eye with the barrels of two dozen M16 rifles in the hands of an equal number of very pissed off U.S. Marines.

With a dry chuckle Aurora said, "Oops, it seems we have missed our landing spot. Anyway, welcome to the White house kids."

Author's note:

I hope you all liked the chapter and I wanted to give you an update about the contest.

The correct answer has not been given yet, though a few have come pretty close. I will give you a few tips to help you all.

Most of you are waaaaay to kind for him, (I really, really hate his arse, he's like in my top three shit list of people from the HP universe.

This story has been rated M for a reason.

He is not the same guy as he was in the book, though he has an even bigger ego than he had in there.

I will be following the major plot line of the Chamber of Secrets, though with a few extra's.

So good luck to all of you.


	17. Chapter 17

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 17

 _They had landed on a grass field behind a large white building and when the flames died down, they stood eye to eye with the business ends of two dozen M16 rifles, in the hands of an equal number of very pissed off U.S. Marines._

 _With a dry chuckle Aurora said, "Oops, it seems we have missed our landing spot. Anyway, welcome to the White house kids."_

One of the Marines stepped forward and said on a strict, distinct military tone, "Identify yourselves, you are trespassing in a restricted area."

When Aurora quickly put her hand in one of her pouches to take out her identification badge, one of the marines proofed to be a little to on edge and his finger slipped on the trigger, firing the weapon.

The rifle spat out three bullets, all of which hit Aurora in her chest, one just beneath her right breast and the other two a few inches lower.

The bullets fell harmlessly from her armor and Aurora looked at the man saying on an exasperated tone, "Seriously, you have no idea who I am do you?" She continued to pull out her identification badge and showed it to the marine who had spoken up.

The man paled instantly and turning to his men he said quickly, "Stand down everyone." Turning back to Aurora he saluted her and said, "My sincerest apologies ma'am, we were told that your delegation was to arrive at the front gates and so we did not anticipate your arrival in this location."

Aurora brushed the apology away and said, "Don't worry about it Captain. The fault is partially ours, as we missed our intended landing spot. Traveling with passengers always is less accurate."

The men simply nodded, they didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about but they where marines, they were trained to obey orders, not to ask questions. And besides, the U.N.S.F. had always been a secretive organization and no outsider knew what they were capable of, so appearing out of a bonfire didn't seem to be so farfetched.

"Do you need an escort ma'am or do you know the way?" the captain asked.

Aurora gave him a smile and said, "Don't worry captain, we'll be fine. It's been a few years but I still know my way around here."

The captain saluted again before marching his men off, back towards their stations.

In the meantime Harry had picked up the three bullets and showed them to the girls. They were completely flattened as the lead bullets had smashed against her armor and not done any damage what so ever.

"Interesting effect isn't it kids?" Aurora said with a grin. "Don't worry, those bullets don't stand a chance against our armor. It takes a whole lot of fire power to break through it, or a lot of brute strength."

The kids looked a little confused until Fleur said on a disbelieving tone, "I don't get it. You are perfectly fine with permanently scaring a reporter just for asking a question, but you don't care at all if someone shoots at you, why?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle burst out laughing and Gabrielle said hiccupping, "That… that thing with… with Skeeter was about making a point. This poor guy just slipped on his trigger finger, and besides no harm was done so why make a fuss of it."

The kids looked a little disbelieving at the two women until as one they shook their heads and Ginny muttered, "Demented."

Still grinning softly Aurora and Gabrielle led the kids around the White House to the front entrance where they were awaited by a small convoy of black SUV's. When they arrived next to the first car Anderson stepped out of it. He was accompanied by, Air Marshal Zhukovo, Admiral Woolsey, Dan, the three other regimental commanders and Ivan and the rest of the Black Angels, dressed in black suits with red tie's. All in all their delegation was fifty-nine adults and four children.

They were led into the white house by members of the Secret Service who escorted them towards the Oval Office. Members of the Black Angels spread out around the white house to take up strategic positions while the main group continued on.

The group that entered the Oval Office was fourteen strong, Aurora and Gabrielle, the quartet, Commander Anderson, Air Marshal Zhukovo, Admiral Woolsey, and the colonels, Dan Granger, William Moore, Vladimir Azov and Wilhelm Wolff. Ivan was the last to enter the office and after he entered he went to stand before the door to stop anyone from entering.

Already in the Oval Office where two men, both in their late fifties. The man seated behind the desk was dressed in a navy blue suit and had short grey hair. The man seated in front of the desk was dressed in a dark gray suit and had very short black hair. He also wore black glasses that suited him well.

To the surprise of the kids, both men stood up and walked before Aurora and Gabrielle and made a polite bow while saying, "My Ladies."

Which was returned by a slight bow from Aurora, and Gabrielle said, "Gentlemen, good to see you again."

The kids stared with wide eyes until Gabrielle turned to them and said, "Kids allow me to introduce, Thomas O'Neill, President of the United States of America and his colleague Vasily Rostock, President of Russia."

Turning to the two men she said, "Thomas, Vasily, allow me to introduce our adoptive son, Harry Potter and his three closest friends. Hermione Granger, the daughter of Colonel Granger. Fleur Delacour, the eldest daughter of Jean-Paul Delacour. And finally Ginny Weasley, the only daughter of Arthur Weasley, the assistant head of our weapons research division."

Both Thomas and Vasily gave each of the kids a hand when they were introduced and the kids looked to be a little shell-shocked. They were standing in front of the two most powerful government leaders in the world and they treated them with respect.

"N… nice to… to meet you sirs," Hermione finally managed to stammer, causing both men to burst out laughing.

"You don't have to call us sir, Hermione Granger, this is an informal meeting so no need to be so polite. Just be yourselves."

Thomas' words seemed to allow the kids to relax some and Harry said, "I don't want to be rude President Rostock, but are you in any way related to our Uncle Ivan over there?"

Both Vasily and Ivan started laughing at this and Vasily said, "Da, you could say that we are related. He is my little brother by four years."

"Hey, who are you calling little, shorty."

After a few snickers by the adults at Ivan's reply, Thomas said, "Now I think the adults have a lot of boring things to talk about, so why don't you go with my head of security, Mike Banning, and he'll give you a full tour of the White House, including the normally off-limits areas."

The kids looked exited at this prospect and readily accepted before they turned to Aurora and Gabrielle who just grinned and Gabrielle said, "Go have fun kids." The kids followed the indicated Secret Service agent and were led out of the office through a side door.

At a sign from Aurora, Ivan said something in his ear-piece and two Black Angels, a man and a woman entered the office and left through the same door as the kids to follow them.

Thomas looked a little amused and said to Aurora, "Mike can be trusted you know, he is one of my best agents."

Aurora nodded and replied, "I know, I recruited him three years ago."

At this Thomas' mouth fell open and Vasily started laughing at his expression.

Turning to Vasily Aurora added, "I have agents stationed with _both_ your security details."

This stopped Vasily's laughter and he said, "Who are they?"

Aurora looked calmly at the two presidents and said, "I'm not going to tell you, it is a precaution that we have taken since the end of the First Wizarding War. I have agents in the security of all the members of the U.N.S.C., both with the ambassadors and the governmental leaders, just in case. They aren't Legionnaires, but they know who to contact when something 'odd' is happening."

Both Thomas and Vasily shook their heads and Thomas said, "But if Mike is one of your guys, than why did you send two of your own guards after them?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle got a dark look and Gabrielle said, "Let's just say that those four have a habit of getting into trouble and we're afraid that Mike can't handle them on his own."

Accepting this explanation with a small nod Thomas indicated for the whole group to take a seat on the couches before his desk and everyone sat down. When they had all been given something to drink, Aurora was the one to breach the first subject.

She looked towards Thomas and Vasily and said, "As you two probably know we had originally planned this visit to look into the new V22 ospreys and see if they are suited to be based on the MPACS."

Both men nodded in affirmation and Aurora continued. "However, at the beginning of the holiday, there was an incident that proved that we have a far more serious matter to discuss. Despite our extensive preparations, our first real confrontation with Voldemort's forces was a disaster."

"How so?" asked Vasily before Aurora could continue. " I thought that you would be outnumbering them by now."

Aurora nodded solemnly and replied, "That was our hope as well but reality proved different. In less than half an hour they mustered an attack force of far over twenty-thousand strong, and they hit us _hard_ , at Buckingham Palace."

Both Thomas and Vasily paled at that and Thomas stuttered, "Twen… twent… twenty-thousand."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded solemnly and Aurora continued, "Yes, the Death Eaters alone outnumbered us two to one and they had an equal number of acromantula, trolls, vampires, giants and even a trio of dragons."

"How, how come we haven't heard anything about this?" Thomas asked the question both he and Vasily were very eager to know the answer to. They had both some of the best intelligence gathering organizations in the world. They should have heard about something of that scale.

Aurora looked a little downcast before she explained. "Because the only ones who know about it are in this room, besides Elizabeth whom we have told as well. We were forced to take action against the British Ministry of Magic and have executed Order 66, a total reset. We went back in time and removed the cause for the Death Eaters attack, sparing thousands of lives on both sides."

Thomas and Vasily looked a little flabbergasted at this. Their positions ensured that they had a vast knowledge of the magical world and so they knew that the magicals had a way to turn back time for a few hours. But they had never heard of it actually being used in this kind of situation.

Gabrielle sighed softly before she took over from Aurora and interrupted the two men's thoughts, "And from what we have gathered from our international contacts, that was only the British part of his forces. He has spent the last decade doing exactly the same as us, building his forces and recruiting heavily in other countries. He is preparing for World War III, and we're not confident that we can stop him if he hits us in force.

Our strongest weapons are still in the process of being built, the Mammoths had problems with their tracks and that had to be solved before production could recommence. The first version of the EXO's failed miserably, and only a few weeks ago have we finally begun with full scale production of the Mark 7. The MPACS had to be partially re-designed to accommodate more fire power, but unfortunately that nearly exhausted our reserves of titanium ore.

Yesterday we began exploiting a new mine which will hopefully allow us to start up the production of the Mammoths in two weeks. Which is about time as we desperately need more close range fire power. The MPACS have plenty of power once the cannons are installed, but they only have a reach of about 25 miles, so we can't strike that far inlands with them."

At that last mention Thomas suddenly got a small grin which was immediately noticed by Aurora and Gabrielle and Aurora asked, "What are you grinning about?"

Thomas stood up and walked to his desk from which he removed a small folder, he walked back to the others and handed it to Aurora with the words, "I received this yesterday. They have it working and apparently the first trial shots have reached a distance of no less than 180 miles and a muzzle velocity of no less than 13,000 ft/s."

Aurora quickly scanned through the folder, with Gabrielle looking over her shoulder and when she was done she handed it to Anderson before standing up. "I'll be right back, Boltrock is going to love this, he has a bet running about this design. Apparently some of his colleagues at the bank said he was crazy for designing such a cannon."

After that she flamed away and the others talked about some inconsequential things while they waited for her to return.

Meanwhile Aurora arrived at Avalon to find Boltrock working at his personal forge. She loudly cleared her throat and when he looked up she said with a grin, "I have news that is going to make you very, very happy."

He looked at her with a confused expression and she added, "Do you remember that bet you had with your colleagues about that cannon design of yours. Well you won the bet."

Boltrock blinked two times before he showed emotion. The normally so stoic goblin was dancing around his workshop and yelling, "I'M A GENIUS, take that Sparkshot you disbelieving piece of troll dung."

When he was a little calmed down he asked with an uncontrollable smile, "What are the test results?"

With a grin Aurora replied, "According to the report I read two minutes ago, a range of 180 miles and a muzzle velocity of no less than 13,000 ft/s. So congratulations Boltrock, your Railgun is officially working and I want those babies on every Mammoth and on the MPACS's as soon as you can get it done, this is exactly the kind of success we needed."

Boltrock was still grinning uncontrollably and said, "Oh you read my mind. We haven't installed the guns yet on the MPACS's so the modifications should only take a few weeks. And the Mammoths were actually designed with the hope that they could get the railguns to work as I knew they could, so that'll be a piece of cake to do.

The mine is also coming along nicely and according to my schedule we'll receive the first shipment early next week, which is just in time as I think we will run out of our current stockpiles later next week."

Aurora nodded approvingly and said, "That is very good Boltrock, what calibers do you think you can build?"

Now turning his grin into a toothy smirk he replied, "What calibers would you want? Now that they are working, it is just a matter of shrinking or enlarging the designs. But since the Mammoths have two 180 mm cannons, I think we'll stick with that size for them as they would get to big otherwise.

As for the MPACS though, they were originally intended to be equipped with twelve 380 mm, and sixteen 240 mm cannons. I'd have to see the final design for myself but if they kept to my rough sketches, we should be able to replace the 380's with 450's and the 240's with 300's."

Taking into the account the now lack of a need to add explosives for the launch of the projectiles, we can enlarge them, adding to their destructive power." With a truly demonic grin that would unsettle any normal human being he added, "And if you give me permission, I'll see what I can do to create 450 mm Hellfire projectiles to fire with those babies."

Aurora adopted his demonic grin and said on a tone that showed her interest into the suggestion, "Well I'm sure we can find some spare recourses you can 'play' with when you have the time. And besides, the U.N.S.C. doesn't need to know _everything_ we do around here."

At Boltrock's slightly raised eyebrows she added, "Well, taking into consideration the force of a .50 Hellfire round and then imagine something like that, but the size of an adult seal, it could be considered a Weapon of Mass Destruction. And since those are not _officially_ approved to be used by us, it is better to keep them in the dark as to what you'll be doing."

The feral grin on the goblin's face told her everything she needed to know, those Hellfire projectiles would be available to them as soon as Boltrock had the time and resources to make them.

"So do you want to come back to the States with me, we're going to watch a second firing test later today?"

With a look that screamed, 'do you even have to ask', Boltrock nodded and said, "Of course. Give me a few moments to freshen up and I'll accompany you." He walked away and entered through a small door in the rocks that led to his private quarters on the island.

A few minutes later he emerged again, showered and dressed in a business suit. "Okay, I'm ready to go."

Aurora nodded silently and offered him a hand. Boltrock raised his eyebrows and said, "Yea I'm not going to do that again. Last time it took me three days to get rid of the burns. Let me just get some gloves." He pulled two, thick, black dragon hide gloves from a pile of aprons and put them on before grasping Aurora's offered hand with both of his.

They vanished in a flash of blue fire and reappeared in the oval office where the rest was still waiting for them.

Thomas stood up when he noticed the flames and when the fire had died down he offered a hand to Boltrock and said, "Master Engineer Boltrock, I presume?"

The goblin quickly pulled of his gloves and put them in a pouch before shaking the offered hand. "That I am sir. And you're Thomas O'Neill, am I right?"

Thomas nodded to Boltrock before he introduced him to Vasily Rostock, who had likewise stood up and gave him a hand.

They all sat down again, with Boltrock taking a spare chair and putting it between two of the couches.

Aurora took the word again and said, "Now that we have the fire power problem solved, it's time I broached the second reason we came here. We need more man power if we are to contain this coming conflict to the British Isles. I believe it'll be unavoidable to completely spare the rest of the world from Voldemort's wrath, but we can try to contain it as much as possible. If we can figure out a way to get more man power."

Thomas and Vasily were quiet for a while, while they pondered this question. It was true that the U.S. and Russia had the two most powerful armies in the world, but even they couldn't just relocate a few thousand special forces soldiers on a whim. And that was even without taking into account the Legion's extremely high requirements which most of their own forces would never be able to achieve.

After about ten minutes Vasily spoke up. "I might have an idea. If my calculations are correct, than over the last decade, the Legion has tested well over twenty-thousand potential recruits, only six-thousand passed your boot camp. That means that over fourteen-thousand didn't.

We could try to gather as many of those who didn't make it as we can, and train and reform them into a support division for the Legion. They won't be Legionnaires, but they'll be available for you to call upon at a moment's notice. We could have them train in secret and relocate them to Britain when the war breaks out.

You could use them to guard strategic locations or for other mundane tasks, while your own Legionnaires handle the crisis situations. That way you'll have a far larger presence and hopefully you'll be able to protect a much larger area."

The others looked interested at his suggestion and Thomas said, "I think it's a good idea. But perhaps we should take into consideration that the more people we tell of this, the bigger the chance becomes of the Death Eaters learning about our plans and making their own to counter them.

And besides, The Legionnaires are all trained to resist the Imperius Curse, but our forces are not. This is a very large potential risk as the Death Eaters could hypothetically put entire divisions under that curse and have them turn on you, which will cause mass panic amongst the muggle population if it happens.

We cannot risk the Death Eaters starting a civil war within our own armies, if they do we will lose morale and we will compromise the safety of our world as a whole."

The rest of the group nodded as well in agreement with his assessment until Gabrielle said, "We could teach your armed forces to resist the curse. It is only a matter of emptying your minds and focusing on what you're doing and why you're doing it. With the proper instruction every soldier can learn how to do it. We have six-thousand professionals who can do it in their sleep, so it isn't impossible.

We could have the news leak out that a certain terrorist organization has found a way to brainwash people. To counter it the U.N.S.C. can set up a taskforce to teach the world's armed forces how they can protect themselves from it. We are giving similar classes to the magical population in Britain and we will begin giving them at Hogwarts as well when the term starts again September 1st."

Now Thomas and Vasily both looked relieved as that possibility had always been a massive threat to the muggle population. Just look at what Grindelwald had done with his SS divisions. Most of those had consisted of a small amount of wizards, the officers, and large numbers of imperiused muggle soldiers who had been forced to commit one atrocity after the other by the mad men controlling them.

After a few more minutes of silence colonel William Moore spoke up, "I have been looking into the archives of the Legion in my spare time and I noticed that we have often received help from the highland clans of Scotland, we could ask them for help as I'm su…"

"NO," both Aurora and Gabrielle yelled at the same time and Colonel Moore abruptly shut his mouth at their furious reaction.

Gabrielle's breathing had become faster and Aurora's had done likewise while she said, "We will NOT call the clans to war. Not unless we can find someone who is worthy to wield the Longaxe."

All the others in the room, with the exception of Gabrielle and Anderson, looked confused and Dan asked carefully, "Ehh Aurora, what is the Longaxe?"

Aurora breathed a few times through her nose to calm down before she replied. "The Longaxe is the weapon that was used by Jarl Arnulf Longman, one of the greatest warriors of the Viking age and the general of the invasion force of Harald Hardrada in 1066 A.D.

Arnulf managed to fight _us_ with impressive strength and courage. He destroyed the British army at the Battle of Fulford and led the settling of Vikings in Scotland. His descendants became the kings of Scotland when he united them to defend their newly conquered land against the forces of Harold Godwinson.

When Arnulf finally died, he had done something very few mortal men can boast about. He had gained _our_ respect. On his death bed he gave me his axe and said, "When the time comes for the Clans to fight, find someone worthy to wield mine axe. For he who wields the Longaxe, will rule the clans of Scotland."

After his death the Longaxe passed onto his son Bruce Longman, who founded Clan Bruce, and was the first forefather of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, who was the last to use the Longaxe in battle at Bannockburn.

The weapon has a will of its own and will only fit in the hand of one who is worthy. In other words, that person must be a descendant of Arnulf, doesn't matter how far removed as long as his or her blood is that of the Longman line. That person must be strong of will, strong enough to subdue the conscious in the Longaxe. And lastly, that person must be kind of heart, and willing to give his all to defend his people."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "The clans will only obey whomever holds the Longaxe, and since no one was found worthy since Robert, we have kept it ever since and often tried to find the one who could wield it, but we have never been successful."

With slight hesitation colonel Wolff asked, "What happens if you two summon the clans for war? Will they refuse to answer?"

Aurora, Gabrielle and Anderson slowly shook their heads and Gabrielle said, "Aurora and I could summon the clans, they will answer if we do, but we won't."

"Why not?" asked Vasily a little curiously.

"Because of the Battle of Culloden," Gabrielle answered sadly. At the confused looks of the others she explained.

"In 1746, an army of Scottish clans attacked a mercenary army disguised as redcoats at Culloden near Inverness. We had asked the clans to arm themselves and keep the mercenaries occupied with hit-and-run tactics, until we could join them with the Scottish army of Lord Bruce and destroy them between hammer and anvil.

The mercenaries were led by the eldest son of the then king of England. With a little, _persuasion_ from us, the king had declared that his second son would follow him on the throne. Before we could intercept him, that bastard eldest son had fled to the continent with half-a-hundred supporters and a sizable part of the royal treasury.

On the continent he gathered mercenary companies and amassed an army eight-thousand strong, with that army he landed in Scotland and started sacking villages between Edinburgh and Inverness. He tried to spark a civil war between England and Scotland and so he had his men dress as redcoats when they burned the Scottish villages.

The ruse almost worked as he managed to have the Scottish raise their armies and prepare for war. He planned to strike after they fought themselves to exhaustion and claim the throne for himself.

We found out what he was planning and send a warning to Lord Bruce who had gathered his forces and was planning on marching from Edinburgh towards Inverness. Unfortunately it would take his forces some time to get there. So we send word to the Highlanders and asked them to keep his forces occupied until we could join them alongside the army of Lord Bruce.

Unfortunately, because we cannot wield the Longaxe, they don't obey us as they would if we could wield it. The clans gathered en-mass and with a force of seven-thousand strong, they kept the mercenaries occupied for a few days.

Unfortunately the highlanders lost their patience and instead of waiting for two more days for us to arrive, they decided to attack them head-on. They fought with sword and shield against a force equipped with the best muskets of that time.

They fought magnificently and destroyed three-quarters of the mercenary army, but they were massacred. We got word from one of our spies that the highlanders had planned to attack and so we hurried onwards to help them with the then available forces of the Legion, nine-hundred Legionnaires on horseback.

We arrived too late though, we attacked the mercenaries in the rear with our cavalry while they were battering down the last few hundred highlanders who were still fighting. We caught them by surprise and in less than half an hour we destroyed the last mercenaries and I ' _accidently'_ cut the head of that pretender off when he tried to shoot one of our Legionnaires." Aurora unconsciously touched the third ruby from above on her right ear while she said that.

"But a long story short," Gabrielle concluded, "The highlanders have a strong urge to prove themselves on the battlefield and are amongst the fiercest warriors we have ever known. Their biggest disadvantage however is that they are too unruly. They will always fight if we ask, but they don't listen to us and that led to over six-thousand of them dying at Culloden. We will not risk that again, so unless we miraculously find someone worthy to wield the Longaxe, the clans will stay out of this war."

The others nodded in understanding and at that moment one of the side doors opened and a angry-red-faced Mike came walking back in, followed by the quartet and the two Black Angels. The kids were looking a little guiltily while the two Black Angels were softly shaking their heads.

Aurora and Gabrielle looked at the kids with raised eyebrows and as soon as they saw them, the kids turned bright red. "Okay spill, what did you do?"

Now the kids got redder and Mike grumbled, "Begging your pardon for my language my lady, but those, those, those _hooligans_ , really haven't the slightest idea about what is proper behavior in a public area."

At this Dan stood up and went to stand next to Aurora while folding his arms before his chest and saying on a stern tone, "Okay young lady, what have you four done this time?"

Hermione looked down and didn't dare to look into her father's eyes. The other three likewise looked down and at this Aurora turned to the two Black Angels behind them. "Lieutenant Saint-Claire, report please."

The female Legionnaire stepped forward and said on a business-like tone, "We were being shown around until we reached the main entrance. Mister Potter and Miss Granger thought it would be a good idea to, 'test the security around here'. They asked how the x-ray scanners at the entrance worked and when they passed through, every alarm started ringing as all four are carrying both SILH's and Combat knifes.

In the resulting chaos they managed to rile up every Secret Service agent in a 200 foot radius when Miss Delacour and Miss Weasley loudly asked why they were carrying their guns into the White House and whether or not they should engage in a gunfight to try and escape.

It took Mister Banning nearly ten minutes to convince his colleagues that it was nothing but a prank, but even after that they insisted that we returned here immediately."

The entire room was silent for a few seconds until, Aurora, Gabrielle, Anderson and Thomas burst out laughing.

The quartet, Banning and all the others looked confused between the laughing people until Aurora calmed down somewhat and said, "You know guys, you did not beat our record. It took us only two minutes to get the Secret Service on our backs when we first met them in 1865."

A little reassured by the fact that they apparently were not in trouble, Harry asked, "What did you do to get on their bad side?"

With a grin Gabrielle answered, "We kind of kidnapped Abraham Lincoln with the help of James Wilkes Booth. We wanted to see whether they were effective or not. And since Abe wanted to retire because of his declining health, but didn't want to abandon the nation, we staged his assassination.

It took us two minutes to get in and out of Ford's Theater, taking Abe with us. It took them eight bloody hours to find what they thought was Abe's body and it was in the bloody kitchens for magic's sake. We had plenty of time to flame to Alcatraz, kidnap a death row prisoner, force feed him some Polyjuice potion and shoot him in the head. That guy was the only death row prisoner in history to get a state funeral."

Everyone in the room looked open-mouthed at Aurora and Gabrielle until Boltrock burst out laughing. "Oh that is just great, you mean to say that you two staged one of the most famous murders in history and got away with it?"

The broad grins of the two women spoke volumes and finally Thomas shook his head and muttered, "Unbelievable. The things you two have gotten away with. Next thing you're going to tell me that you two are responsible for George III finally recognizing us as an independent country after the War of Independence."

"Well he did take some serious persuasion before he agreed to open negotiations." Aurora replied casually, "We needed to wrap that war up as soon as possible, as we needed all available recourses to prepare for the inevitable war with France. So we ordered Cornwallis to surrender Yorktown to the U.S. with as few British casualties as possible. This was to allow them to come back to Europe and prepare for the French"

Thomas looked dumbfounded and that and finally managed to ask, "How, how did you managed to do that?"

Aurora looked very seriously and said, "From around 1600 A.D. to around 1800 A.D. Gabrielle and I were the _real_ leaders in England. The kings were a bunch of warmongering idiots who only cared about their own personal glory. We were forced to take action about that more than once, and three of them had to be forced to abdicate on threat of their health.

It was only after Wellington and Blucher beat Napoleon at Waterloo, thanks to us breaking the Old Guard, that the European monarchies realized the cost that war inflicted upon their countries."

The room was quiet for a while after she finished speaking until Vasily asked, "Why has no one ever written about this? Surely people must have known about you two?"

At this both looked a little grimly and Gabrielle said, "There have been plenty of books written about us, but of every book that names us, only one example still exists, which is in our private library, as we hunted them all down and destroyed them.

Those books spoke of things that could destabilize the world order and we couldn't risk them being spread. So we burned the books and silenced everyone who had either written them or helped distribute them."

The rest of the room but especially the kids looked appalled at this until Hermione said, "You, you mean you have _killed_ people just for writing a book?"

Gabrielle nodded softly and said, "We have, but you need to realize some things, if those books had become common knowledge, then most of the other royal houses of Europe would have gone to war with us.

If the people knew that the country was effectively ruled by two women who were, non-religious, soldiers, magicals, and lesbians. Then just about every peasant in the land would have taken up arms against us. We have always stayed in the shadows, and that is just the way we like it."

The kids nodded, they understood it, but they still didn't like it.

After another short silence Thomas stood up and said, "If there are no other matters, then I propose we head over to our second destination for today, the U.S. Military Facility for Advanced Weapon Research."

He said it on a way that he thought everyone knew what he mend but seeing the mostly confused faces he added, "More commonly known as Area 51."


	18. Chapter 18

Author's note: for a visual representation of the Railgun, imagine the one from GTA V but a whole lot bigger.

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 18

The journey to Area 51 took a lot less hassle than one would expect.

When Hermione asked how they were going to get there Gabrielle pulled a familiar piece of rope from a pouch and said with a grin, "Guess."

The kids looked relieved but Fleur asked, "There is something I don't really understand. If those rope-portkeys can take you anywhere, then why didn't we use them to get here. And for that matter, why didn't we use them to get to France as we did use one to get to Transylvania."

At her question Boltrock started snickering and said, "Well Fleur that is partially my fault. Arthur asked me if he could borrow a portkey for a few days as he wanted to take you guys for a trip. He did not tell me _where_ he wanted to take you, and as a consequence I confiscated it again as soon as I saw him.

Now technically speaking, it is illegal for witches and wizards to use an unregistered goblin-made portkey, as they are untraceable. And because Aurora and Gabrielle didn't want to cause any trouble with the ICW, it was necessary for you four to use a wizard-made portkey on your trip to France.

As for why you didn't take one to get to the U.S. that is simple, they have a maximum range of 2,500 miles. If you did use one it would drop you somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, and I don't think you'd like that very much."

The kids nodded, as much as they liked their morning swim, the prospect of being dropped in the middle of on ocean was rather daunting.

After that little explanation the group made their way back to the main entrance and on the way they were joined by the various small groups of Black Angels that had been spread around the White House.

Once back at the entrance they were joined by an escort of Secret Service agents under the leadership of Mike Banning. Mike took the lead and started to lead them towards the convoy a black SUV's that stood before the entrance until he realized that the entire delegation from Avalon wasn't following him.

"Ehh why aren't you getting in the cars?"

The only reply he got was Gabrielle holding up the length of rope and swinging it around softly.

Mike softly shook his head and muttered, "I swear to God I really hate those things. I have to throw up every time I'm forced to use one."

Gabrielle grinned and said, "Relax, this one is goblin-made, they're much more stable. And if you throw up I'll personally clean it up for you."

Mike sighed in resignation and led his people back into the entrance hall until one of his agents, a man who was a squib and only joined his unit a few weeks ago said, "But isn't the White House covered in anti- apparition and anti-portkey wards?"

With a grin Aurora replied, "It is, but since both Gabrielle and I are going to be using it as well, that won't be an issue. There isn't a single ward strong enough to keep us from breaking out."

"And what makes you so special?" the man said on a slightly disrespecting tone. "I know plenty of witches and wizards, some of which are very powerful but none of them are capable of getting either in or out of this building with magic."

At this there was a short silence until almost the entire Avalon delegation and a few of his own colleagues, burst out laughing and Harry said with a smirk, "You have no idea who my mothers are, do you?"

His confused expression soon disappeared when both Aurora and Gabrielle picked their red-skull masks from their belts and showed them to the man.

His magical background had imprinted enough knowledge of the Dark Angels to make him realize the mistake he had made and he turned white as a sheet. Before he could say anything Aurora cut him off and said, "Don't worry, we don't bite… often"

That seemed to both reassure and worry the man so Aurora decided to give him a break and said, "Maybe you need to take the rest of the day off, we have plenty of manpower to keep your boss safe."

Thomas nodded at the man and added, "Do not worry, we'll be perfectly safe. All of you take the day off. I'll take Mike and two others but the rest of you are not required to accompany us if it makes you uncomfortable."

Most of Mike's team seemed relieved and he picked two volunteers to come with them while the rest went their own way.

Gabrielle spread out the rope and everyone who would be coming with them took a hold of the rope. The last to take a hold was Aurora and as soon as she touched it the group was pulled away.

They landed in the middle of the Nevada desert about two miles away from a large military complex which was situated next to a dry lake with runways on it.

As soon as they had landed Aurora put her mask on and said, "We have arrived, pick us up at the portkey point."

Taking the mask off again she looked at the raised eyebrows of Thomas and said, "What, you didn't intend to walk there did you? We can do it easily but when was the last time you took a hike through a desert with no water on you?"

Thomas acknowledged this point and they waited relaxed for a few minutes until they were reached by a small convoy of military trucks which brought them to the complex.

When they drove through the gates of the complex the quartet was reminded of the outlay of Avalon, large number of hangars and research buildings with a few barracks scattered about.

They were being driven towards the dry lake bed where they saw a large cannon set up. It was aimed at the other end of the lake bed about five miles away and a score of men and women in white lab coats who were milling about it, connecting cables and checking various parts of the weapon.

As soon as the trucks stopped, Boltrock jumped out, ran towards the cannon and started firing dozens of questions at the scientists and technicians to the humor of most of the others.

The cannon was mounted on a large concrete platform and the projectiles were piled next to it. The shells were solid steel, 20 inches long and 6 inch in diameter.

When Aurora walked towards the shells two of the marines who guarded the complex picked one up and showed it to her. To the astonishment of most of the facility's staff, she easily took it over from them with one hand and spun it around on the palm of her hand.

"Hmm, nicely balanced," she muttered before handing it to Ivan who also didn't seem to mind about the weight of the projectile, though he did use both hands to hold it.

Ivan handed the projectile back to the marines who replaced it on the pile.

In the meantime, the technicians had explained to Boltrock where they got the required power to fire the weapon. Turns out they had to build a new power line to the nearest nuclear power reactor as that was the only way they could get enough power for it to fire.

Boltrock had a small smirk on his face and said, "I might have a solution for that, but let's watch the results of the way you fire it first."

The lead technician nodded and spoke to the group as a whole, "Ladies and Gentleman, if I could direct your attention towards the video screens over there," he pointed towards a trailer that held four massive screens, which showed a large concrete bunker from four angles, "You will see that we have constructed a series of concrete bunkers on the other side of the dry lake which we will use for target practice today.

We made the standard bomb proof bunkers that is in use by the U.S. army today. They are composed of 16-foot-thick walls of reinforced concrete and have overall dimensions of 50 feet high and 80 feet square.

This will be the first test on an actual target. The previous test was to find out how far and how fast the projectiles would go so we just shot it into the desert and put a tracker into the shell so we could recover it afterwards.

As most of you will know, a railgun uses magnetic energy to propel a projectile, instead of an explosive charge as is common nowadays. This allows for a far greater muzzle velocity, giving it a speed of around mach 10. The first test has reached a speed of 13,000 ft/s or well over 8850 mph.

This changes the projectile into a kinetic missile with enough speed that the impact velocity alone is enough to destroy most targets, removing the need for explosive charges to destroy buildings or vehicles.

Unfortunately, we are not able to use the railgun to its full potential, as we do not have access to enough power to fully charge the gun. The solution would be to mount the gun on a carrier with a nuclear reactor on board, as that would be able to supply enough power to fully charge it.

Theoretically it would be possible to create a smaller handheld version to be used as a very long distance anti-personnel and anti-vehicle rifle. However, the immense power requirements make that a plan for the distant future as there is nothing we know of that is capable to deliver the required power and yet still be mobile enough to be carried around."

A knowing look shared between Aurora and Boltrock was all it took to seal the deal. With the Dragon Stones at their disposal it would not be the distant future at all."

After a short description of the process that they went through to create the prototype, the lead technician handed a small grey box with a large red button on a cable to Boltrock with the words, "Would you like to do the honors sir? Seeing as it is your brainchild it seems only right for you to fire the first real shot."

Boltrock showed him a toothy grin and with his left hand he accepted the box while holding his right hand above it. With a grin at the slight jealous of Aurora he started counting down. "3… 2… 1… FIRE."

He smashed his right hand on the button. It took a second to power up before the railgun fired. Not a second after the railgun fired, the bunker on the screens exploded.

When the dust settled they saw that the bunker was cracked open with a massive hole, nearly 15 ft wide, struck straight through one of the walls.

A round of cheers went through the group until the lead technician climbed on top of the gun turret and raised his hands. "Thank you for your appreciation. It is most certainly gratifying to see the fruits of our labor from the last two years. However most of the honor belongs to Mister Boltrock for coming up with the idea and creating the preliminary designs."

Boltrock climbed next to him onto the turret and made a small bow under the storm of applause that once again rose from the group. He thanked the group with a few words until he turned to the technician besides him and said, "Now for the next shot we should try something else."

He handed him a large Dragon Stone, roughly 10 inches in diameter and said, "We will try using this power source now."

Over the next five minutes Boltrock helped the technicians with connecting the Dragon Stone to the gun and to the immense surprise and disbelieve of the technical crew, the indicators on the control panel showed that they were able to use full power on the next shot.

"What kind of thing is this?" the lead technician asked a grinning Boltrock.

"Sorry but that is a secret. Suffice to say that it draws its power from the earth and so it is able to supply an unlimited amount of energy."

With that explanation out of the way, Boltrock handed the control box to Aurora and said with a grin, "You want to give it a try?"

With a slightly unsettling devilish grin, Aurora accepted the box and started the countdown, "3… 2… 1… FIRE."

This time the bunker on the screen exploded the moment the railgun fired and when the dust settled after a minute, the bunker was completely destroyed. Large chunks of concrete were spread out everywhere, short ends of rebar sticking out of them at odd ends.

The destruction was such that everyone was looking amazed at the wreckage shown on the screens until Boltrock asked, "How fast did it go?"

One of the technicians looked it up and she gasped when she saw the results. Boltrock rushed over to where the women was standing and pulled the piece of paper from her hands. He looked at the results and his eyes widened in surprise. "Mach 20, over 23,000 ft/s."

All the technicians immediately crowded around Boltrock and the results were passed around between them as they studied them. They started several discussions at once and theories were thrown around about the possibility of creating a way to calculate the amount of power required to reach a certain distance at certain speeds.

The less highly educated people of the group, which were by far the largest number, followed the discussions with amusement until Aurora had had enough. "SHUT UP," she yelled and the discussions ceased immediately.

"Now, you can figure out the details on a later time, but for now we have other places to be. Boltrock, you can stay around if you want, but we can also drop you off on our way back from inspecting the Ospreys."

Boltrock chose to accompany them and return later so the group made their way into the trucks again and were driven off to the portkey-point. Once they were there, Gabrielle pulled the length of rope out of the pouch and handed it out again.

Everyone grabbed a hold on the rope and once Aurora took a hold of it, they were pulled away again.

They reappeared in front of a large aircraft hangar on a military base somewhere on the western coast of the U.S.. They were awaited by a small delegation of USAF officers and two civilian representatives of the manufacturers of the Osprey.

After a round of introductions, after which the quartet was sent off to the dirt-bike circuit under the watchful eyes of Ivan and five other Black Angels, the remainder of the group was led towards the hangar were several prototypes of the V-22 Osprey were waiting for them.

The aircraft was of the tiltrotor design, meaning that it has two engines, one on either end of a central wing. Each engine propelled its own rotor and could be turned both forwards and upwards, depending on the direction one wanted to fly.

This setup made the aircraft highly maneuverable, very fast for a helicopter, and able to hover stably on a single spot for extended times.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Boltrock were led into the cockpit and shown around. There were two seats, one for the pilot and one for the co-pilot. Each pilot had two joysticks, one to control each engine and its position.

On the place of the index fingers on all joysticks were triggers which could be connected to a weapon system of choice. These choice were, as they were told, the Sidewinder missiles, or the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

The tip was a switchable module which held the main gun, it was either an M230 30 mm auto-cannon or the M61 Vulcan Gatling gun. The modules could be switched in a matter of minutes to allow for quick resupplying or maintenance.

An assortment of other weapon systems were also available, though not advised, as each weapon added would slow the Osprey down and decrease the weight of the cargo it could carry.

Being slightly impressed by what they were told Aurora asked, "Would it be possible to request a demonstration? I have brought several veteran Apache pilots who would be more than willing to take the field in an aerial combat simulation against one of these Ospreys."

When they noticed the hesitance of their hosts Gabrielle said, "We have access to water-based paint rounds which we ourselves use in training exercises, think paintball but better. I could have a shipment of those rounds here within ten minutes."

This prospect seemed more appealing to their hosts and they quickly agreed. Gabrielle left them to find a quiet corner and quickly flamed to Avalon to get what they needed. In the meantime, two Ospreys and a trio of Apaches were being prepared to take part in their air trial. For ease all aircraft had been outfitted with the M230, 30 mm auto-cannon.

Not ten minutes later a black Chinook landed next to the hangar which contained the Ospreys. When the cargo hold opened Gabrielle stepped out and directed a forklift driver to unload the large ammo crates that filled up the belly of the of Chinook.

The crates were divided by color, red and blue, and ground personnel started loading the paint rounds in the respective aircraft, red for the Apaches and Blue for the Ospreys. When that was done, the five aircraft were pulled out of their hangars by tractors.

Just before the pilots entered their cockpits, the sound of roaring engines could be heard and a mixed group of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) and dirt bikes came racing towards them.

Hermione and Fleur were each seated behind a marine on a bright green ATV while Harry and Ginny were seated behind marines on black dirt bikes. Ivan and his Black Angels were driving dirt bikes of their own and the giant Russian couldn't help but show off. He and two others were making wheelie's and other stunts while the kids cheered them on.

The group of vehicles came to a stop next to the hangar and everyone got off them. The kids came running towards Aurora and Gabrielle and said as one, "Moooom,"

In an identical gesture both Aurora and Gabrielle rolled their eyes and Gabrielle said mentally, _"You_ _wanna_ _bet…?"_

" _No way, that's not even a bet it's a given."_

"Can we get those as well?" the quartet asked as one.

" _Told You_ ," Aurora said to her wife.

Turning their attention to the kids Gabrielle sighed a little and said, "You guys already got a birthday gift remember. We got you those brooms."

The kids looked a little down at that until Hermione's eyes began to glow and said, "No you didn't." At their raised eyebrows she added, "If you remember correctly we are to test fly the new prototypes of your newest company. You never said we could keep them so they can't really be considered gifts."

Along with the other three she adopted a pouty face and looked with begging eyes at the two adults. Ignoring the sniggering of Thomas, Vasily, Dan, Ivan and many of the others, Aurora and Gabrielle sighed a little melodramatically and Aurora said, "Fine, fine, we'll look into it but for now you guys need to shut up and behave, we've got some interesting entertainment this afternoon."

The kids looked curiously around until their eyes fell on the aircrafts around them and Fleur said hopefully, "Are we going to fly?"

The kids were already halfway to the nearest Osprey before Aurora could call them to a halt. "No we are not going flying. We are going to watch a mock aerial battle between a trio of Legion Pilots in Apaches and two Osprey's."

The kids got identical excited looks and they followed the rest of the group as they were led towards the air control tower from which they would have a good view to watch the 'show'.

Once they were situated on the panorama deck on top of the tower, one of the USAF officers said something in a walky-talky and they could see the aircraft rising up from between the hangars.

They immediately separated in two groups, the two Osprey's went to the far left and started hovering about half a mile away above the end of the runway.

The trio of Apaches flew to the right and disappeared above the sea. They waited for a few minutes until suddenly they could hear the sound of auto-cannon fire coming from directly behind the two Ospreys.

The Apaches had apparently flown all around the base and snuck up from behind the Ospreys. In a flash maneuver, the Osprey's turned on the spot, dove down and returned fire with several volley's of their own. The far greater speed of the Ospreys allowed them to outmaneuver the Apaches and they scored dozens of 'hits' while only taking a few themselves, despite their larger bulk.

Over the course of the next ten minutes the two teams performed the most complex maneuvers possible but no matter what the Legion pilots tried, the Ospreys were too fast and to maneuverable to get more than a few direct hits on them.

When their 'battle' was over the Apaches were nearly completely covered in blue paint, while the Ospreys only had a few dozen hits each and only a handful on critical points. The pilots put the aircrafts down next to a washing place and the ground crews quickly cleaned the paint off before the Ospreys were towed back to their hangar were the group from Avalon was already waiting for them.

Next part of the demonstration was the technical crew showing how to fold the central wing so it took less place in storage. It could be rotated 90° so it stood lengthwise on the Osprey reducing its wingspan to a quarter of the original. The entire process took only twenty minutes and an equal amount was needed to put the wing back in the flight position.

Overall it was a very productive day as at the end of the day Aurora had made a deal with the manufacturers for 250 Ospreys, sixty would be stationed on each of the MPACS and another ten were to be held in reserve at Avalon. The first batch of 130 Ospreys would be delivered within the next half year, while the remainder would be delivered in two years time, just in time for the second pair of MPACS.

The deal was only for the basic version of the Ospreys, as the weapons and defensive systems would be installed at Avalon, so they received a nice discount on the price.

At the end of the day the whole group returned to the White House where they split up. Thomas and Vasily remained behind while the Avalon delegation took a portkey to Ronald Reagan International Airport where they boarded a chartered Boeing 757 from British Airways, which would bring them back to Heathrow.

During the flight Harry and the girls mostly slept while Aurora and Gabrielle were in conversation with Anderson and the rest of the Legion High Command.

After a fourteen-hour flight the plane landed on Heathrow from which they took a portkey back to Avalon and then by the floo back to Potter Manor. The next few weeks were quiet for the quartet, they spent most of the day training with Aurora and Gabrielle, but thanks to their increased stamina, it wasn't such a hardship. The evenings were spent in the lake or with cuddling on the couch in front of the large TV in the game room.

On the 19th of July Neville called them through the floo and invited them for his birthday party the next day. They readily agreed so the next day all six were gathered in the travel room to make their way over to Longbottom Manor which was located somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. Aurora and Gabrielle had decided to come along as they wanted to discuss some political things with Neville's grandmother.

When they arrived they were welcomed by Neville who showed them to the living room where they found several of their friends already seated. Susan, Hannah and Daphne were already talking and discussing their vacation so far.

After congratulating Neville, Aurora and Gabrielle excused themselves to go and find Lady Augusta Longbottom.

Once the kids were all gathered in the living room, they sung _Happy Birthday,_ and gave Neville his presents. The night before Harry and the girls had quickly wrapped an old book about mystical plants, which they had found in the library at the manor, but Neville was ecstatic to receive it.

When the gifts were unwrapped and the cake had been eaten, they spent the rest of the afternoon playing exploding snap and other games until it was time for dinner. The three adults in the manor joined them in the dining room when dinner was served, and they spent an enjoyable meal talking animatedly over a whole range of subjects.

Harry was the only one who noticed the curious looks Aurora and Gabrielle threw between Neville and one of the old portraits that decorated the dining room. Unlike most of the portraits they had seen so far, this one didn't move and didn't talk.

When dinner was over most of the guests went home and the quartet and Aurora and Gabrielle were given a tour about the manor and the grounds. The manor was about the same size as the new Weasley Manor, but the grounds weren't as large and most of it was covered in dense forest.

When they were walking behind the group on their way to the library, Aurora said softly, "Charles, we need you."

The elf appeared with a soft pop which went unnoticed by the others and asked softly, "What do you need Mistress?"

"Go to our private armory at the manor, on the wall you will find a large double headed battle axe, bring that axe."

Charles nodded at Aurora's words and popped away, only to reappear a few seconds later, holding a massive axe in his hands. It was a great double bladed Danish axe, it was easily 4 ½ ft long and the head of the axe was a ft from edge to edge on its widest point.

The entire axe, both the blades and the handle, was decorated with intricate engravings of ancient battles long since forgotten.

Aurora accepted the axe from Charles and thanked him before the elf popped away again. Marching up to the kids, who had kept walking and were now led into the library by Neville, Aurora said, "Neville."

Neville turned around and from barely a yard away she threw the axe at him while yelling, "CATCH."

For a split second Neville stood frozen as he saw the heavy blade of the axe coming straight toward his face. But then he moved, with a speed and a strength that no one would have thought him capable of, least of all he himself.

Neville caught the handle of the axe, swung it around him to guide its momentum and brought it over his shoulder before slamming it, edge first, down at Aurora's head.

Author's note:

I'm very sorry to have to tell you all this, but I'll be forced to take a break from posting, as I don't have the time to write at the moment. I'm currently in the process of buying my first house and everything around that takes a whole lot of time, reducing my writing time.

I hope you don't give up on this story as I sure as hell will not. I'll write whenever I can and post when I have the chance, but for the next month or two I cannot promise any updates.

I repeat, _I will not give up on this story,_ it is just a break. (As his beta I will bug him to make sure)

p.s. the contest is still open, please send your guesses as you can still send them in and you can make multiple guesses if you want, just make it a guest review with your username in it so I know who it is from.


	19. Chapter 19

Hello everyone.

Firstly allow me to apologize for my lengthy absence. Turns out buying your first house swallows up all of your free time. The good news is that I have finally moved, but the bad news is that I am suffering from severe writers block for this story.

I have started to write a second story, which will focus on Aurora and Gabrielle and their adventures when they arrive in the world of Game of Thrones and started messing with the game. I have uploaded the first three chapters of this story to give you something to read until I am inspired to continue with HP and the Shadow Legion.

I hope you will enjoy this new story, which is called; The Angels in Westeros.

I once again give you my promise that I will definitely continue this story it will just take a little while longer.

Sincerely,

Medieval Maniak.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 19

 _Neville caught the handle of the axe, swung it around him to guide its momentum and brought it over his shoulder before slamming it, edge first, down at Aurora's head._

Without even flinching she caught the handle, with the blade a fraction of an inch from her face.

When he couldn't pry the axe loose from her grip he yelled, "Death tae th' Sassenach."

Neville suddenly seemed to get to his senses and he went pale as a corpse when he saw what he had just done. He dropped the axe, which was still held by Aurora who lowered it and he started stammering apologies. However, before he could form a complete word, Aurora interrupted him.

"SHUT UP NEVILLE!" The shy boy immediately went quiet and the others looked attentively at what was happening. They all expected Aurora to explode at Neville but quite the contrary happened.

With a grin that almost couldn't get any wider, Aurora said, "That was very, very good Neville. We have waited for exactly that to happen for more than five and a half centuries." The knowing grins from Aurora and Gabrielle and her words proved too much for Neville as his eyes turned upwards and he fainted.

Gabrielle managed to catch him before he dropped to the ground and she carried him to the library where she placed him in a large armchair.

It took a few minutes for him to regain consciousness and when he did, he rubbed his eyes and he only seemed to see the quartet and said a little bewildered, "Sorry I fell asleep guys, but I just had the weirdest dream ever. We were walking in the hallway and suddenly your mother threw an axe at me. As soon as I touched the axe it felt as if a foreign conscious invaded my mind, took over my body and told me what to do. It was so weird and I…I…I… "

He stammered to a halt when he saw Aurora and Gabrielle standing behind the quartet, especially when he saw the giant axe that was resting on Aurora's left shoulder. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" he deadpanned.

With a wide, slightly unnerving, grin Aurora and Gabrielle shook their heads in an identical move and Gabrielle said, "Nope, you weren't dreaming Neville. You tried to kill my wife with that big axe she is carrying, and we are so incredibly happy that you did."

This caused all five children to look at her and Aurora with gaping mouths until Fleur stammered, "You… you… you _wanted,_ Neville to try and kill you?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle nodded happily and Gabrielle said, "Yes we did, because it means that he has been accepted by the axe and we finally have someone who can command the respect of the Clans."

The five kids shared the same confused expression until Hermione asked, "But _why_?"

Still grinning Aurora replied, "For you to understand that we will need to find your grandmother, Neville, as she can most likely fill a few of the gaps and explain why you weren't told about your heritage before."

Neville nodded and led them towards the small study where Aurora and Gabrielle had spent most of the day talking to the Longbottom Matriarch. He knocked on the door and his grandmother's voice could be heard coming from within the room, "Enter."

Neville opened the door and Aurora and Gabrielle stepped into the room. Lady Augusta Longbottom took one look at the axe, which was still slung over Aurora's shoulder, and the slightly ashamed look that still adorned Neville's face, and she muttered, "Oh Hell No," before she fainted in the comfortable armchair which she was seated in.

Neville immediately panicked, he had never seen his grandmother act like that, but Aurora put a calming hand on his shoulder while Gabrielle softly slapped his grandmother in the face a few times to wake her up.

After a few seconds Augusta woke up again and after she shook her head a few times to clear it, her eyes were again drawn to the axe slung over Aurora's shoulder and she muttered, "How in Arnulf's name is this possible? They have always told me that he is nearly a squib."

Neville blushed heavily at that and managed to protest, "I… I… I'm no… not a sq… squib."

In a slightly cruel, but wholly justified move, the quartet burst out in an identical bout of uncontrollable laughing. Neville turned even redder and Aurora and Gabrielle got a stern look on their faces for a just a moment until Harry burst out, "Oh please Neville, you're a disaster at potions, everyone knows that, but you are way above average in most other classes."

"Yes," added Hermione, "You're top of the class in Herbology, you have even beaten _me_ on more than one of those tests, remember."

Both Fleur and Ginny nodded enthusiastically at that and Fleur said with a blissful grin, "Yea, remember when you hit Nott with that outstanding Knockback jinx and you made him crash into that suit of armor."

The others grinned as well and Ginny added, "O yes that was absolutely brilliant, I heard from Fred that Filch made him polish every single one of them, he was polishing for nearly a month."

Neville managed a small proud grin at the praise from his friends and his grandmother looked at him in a whole different light, both proud and confused. "What are they talking about Neville? When I asked you to demonstrate what you had learned this year you didn't manage a single fully-powered spell."

At that Neville turned beat-red again and mumbled, "BecauseatschoolIusedborrowedwandsbutyoualwaysmakemeusedad'sanditdoesn'tworkforme."

"I'm sorry what did you say?" the tone on which Augusta Longbottom spoke made it clear that she did not want to hear what she thought she had heard.

Neville took a very deep breath, and aimed a desperate plea for help at his friends before he looked down at his feet and said, "Because at school I used borrowed wands but you always make me use dad's and it doesn't work for me."

"WHO CARES IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU?" Augusta yelled at her grandson, while jumping up from her chair. "THAT WAND BELONGED TO A HERO, YOU SCHOULD BE PROUD TO USE IT, WHETER IT WORKS FOR YOU OR NOT."

Neville was completely cowed beneath his grandmother's tirade but Aurora had had enough, she marched over to Augusta, forced her back into her chair and roared, "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Now it was Augusta's turn to feel herself cowed beneath the eyes of Aurora which had gone black with fury. "How dare you," she snarled at the old woman. "How dare you to force your own grandson to use a wand that doesn't fit him, and for what? Just so you can feel that a little bit of your son is still with you?

Frank and Alice are dead, Augusta, and they will never come back. They are gone, and now you are responsible to do what is in Neville's best interest and that does not include holding him back. He is not his father, Augusta, and now it is time for him to become his own person."

Neville was completely caught off guard by Aurora's words and when he looked up, he was shocked to see tears running down the cheeks of his grandmother. He carefully approached her chair, and when she noticed him she stood up and enveloped her grandson in a fierce hug.

"I'm so, so sorry Neville," she sobbed on his shoulders causing Neville to look slightly uncomfortable, he had never seen his grandmother like this. He hesitantly started patting her on the back while she kept crying for a few minutes.

When she had calmed down again Neville helped her sit back down while the rest took up seats around the desk. Aurora placed the axe on the desk and said to Augusta, "Judging by your reaction, I assume you know what this is and why we are here?"

Augusta nodded softly and replied, "Aye, I know what it is and I know why you are here, but what I don't understand is why you think it is him, and where you got that axe from. As far as my family knows, it was lost after the death of my great- great- great- great- great- great- grandfather King Robert I."

With a small grin Aurora said, "Not lost, kept safe. As by the instructions of Arnulf, upon Robert's death we took the axe and kept it safe until we found the next one who would be worthy to wield it. Which we have done just five minutes ago when Neville tried to kill me with it."

"I… I… I just can't believe it is Neville. He never gave me the impression that he would be a candidate."

Aurora nodded softly and Gabrielle said, "If you're not convinced, we can prove it to you." She picked the axe up from the desk and stood before Neville. "This is not dangerous Neville," she said to the frightened boy, "Just try to ignore the impulses the axe is giving you, it'll get easier with time."

Neville nodded softly and took a deep breath before Gabrielle handed him the axe.

His face immediately turned stern and he yelled in the same growl as before, "IT'S TIME FOR WAR, Summon th' Clans."

Gabrielle stepped carefully into Neville's field of vision and said, "Please tell us who you are and why you are here."

"I'm th' Longaxe, loyal companion of Arnulf Longman and weapon of th' rightful king of th' highlanders. I have chosen this young man because he has th' right ancestry and with enough training I feel he has th' potential to reach greatness."

When Neville's mouth stopped moving Gabrielle asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Neville's head went up and down while he replied, "I do, your name is Gabrielle Emrys, and your wife is Aurora Emrys, th' daughter and only child of Merlin th' Great. You two have been chosen by Arnulf to be my custodians and to ensure I would never fall into th' wrong hands."

Augusta gasped when she heard this and looked wide-eyed between Aurora and Gabrielle but she remained silent.

The low growl continued to come from Neville's mouth, "What is th' reason you have chosen to find me a wielder at this time? What is th' danger that threatens our lands?"

Aurora stood up and wend to stand besides Gabrielle before she answered his question, "The greatest Dark wizard of the last few centuries was temporarily defeated a decade ago. We are currently preparing our forces to fight him when he returns to power, which we think will happen in the not too distant future, but we are dangerously outnumbered.

We need to unite the clans and bring them under the banner of the Legion to properly prepare them for war. When we last tried to unite the clans without you, it ended in disaster at the battle of Culloden, where thousands of clansmen died. So your help is desperately needed."

"I see, well then I suggest you teach this young man how to properly wield an axe, as I refuse to do all th' work. Reunite me with this young man when he is ready."

Gabrielle took the axe from Neville's hands and he immediately turned back to himself. He stared open-mouthed between Aurora and Gabrielle until Aurora asked, "What can you remember from the last five minutes Neville?"

Neville swallowed a few times until he said, "Not… not... nothing."

"Well then," Aurora replied with a small grin, "I guess it's time for us to answer a few questions."

Neville and his grandmother both nodded weekly and Gabrielle began. "We will try to answer all of your question but you have to understand that there are certain things that we will not discuss. Furthermore, before we begin we will require a magical oath, from the both of you, that you will not tell anything you hear today about, or from us, to anyone else without our express permission."

Both Longbottoms gave their oath and Augusta was the first to ask a question. "How did you know it was Neville you were looking for?"

"We didn't," was the reply from Gabrielle, "but when we saw that portrait of Arnulf in your dining room we hoped it would be him."

Neville was next, "But how do you know Arnulf in the first place? He lived over a thousand years ago."

With a gentle smile Aurora placed a soft hand on Neville's knee and said, "Neville, how old do you think that Gabrielle and I are?"

Not fully understanding the question Neville shrugged a little and said, "If I had to guess I'd say somewhere around twenty-five."

Still with the same soft smile Aurora replied, "You are about 1452 years off." Ignoring his gasp, she continued, "Gabrielle and I were born in the year 515 A.D. Gabrielle's father was a simple farmer in Wales, while my father was a little more well-known, Merlin Emrys. Also known as Merlin the Great."

Now both Neville and his grandmother where speechless as they listened to Aurora's tale. "When we were 22 years old, something happened to us that caused us to stop aging and changed us from two, if I might say so, quit powerful witches, into something else." Neville nodded but didn't reply and so Aurora continued.

"You have already seen what we can do in class, those are mere party tricks compared to what we can really do. For example, we broke through the war-wards at Malfoy manor in less than a minute."

Augusta paled at that and sputtered, "But… but… but Malfoy always boasted about the supposed watertight security around his manor."

Aurora just scoffed at that statement and Gabrielle said, "While his wards were very impressive for _wizards_ , the only ones that can keep us out for a prolonged duration, are those at Hogwarts, Gringotts and the DOM. However, if we are within those wards it's fairly easy to break out of them."

Augusta stared in awe at the casual dismissal of the wizard made wards, and was even more surprised when Gabrielle added, "Unlike goblin-made wards, the strength of the wizard-made kind is dependent on the amount of magical power you charge them with. Every ward in existence that is made thusly, can be overpowered. Just send enough high powered curses or brutal force against it and it will eventually shatter. Aurora and I have such vast reserves of power that it is fairly easy for us to break through them.

Besides, we were keyed into the wards of most important buildings when they were made. We would just have to snap our fingers and we can stand in front of Fudge's desk at the Ministry, or appear in the throne room of Buckingham Palace."

"But… but why?" Augusta managed to say in her confusion and awe.

Aurora pulled her identification badge from a pocket in her jeans and handed it to Augusta who opened it. Her eyes widened and she looked frantically between the papers and Aurora until she sank backwards into her chair while muttering, "Well, that explains a lot."

Aurora grinned and plucked her identification badge from between Augusta's powerless fingers.

"What is that thing?" Neville asked curiously when Aurora was about to put it away again.

"Identification badge for my second job." Aurora said cryptically while putting the badge away. "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with Neville. All that you need to know is that Gabrielle and I are not just your teachers, we were stationed at Hogwarts by Her Majesty to ensure the safety of the students and the staff."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "For the rest of this holiday and during the school year, you will be joining those four during their daily workout. We need to work on your conditioning before we can start teaching you how to properly wield an axe."

It was decided that Neville would join them for their evening workout every day until the school year began. In September they would see how they would continue based on the then status of Neville's condition.

Shortly after they got home, the quartet headed to bed, as tomorrow was the 31st of July, and Harry's 12th birthday. It was decided that they would all celebrate their birthday on the same day, for convenience sake.

The next day dawned bright and just after dawn, a group of people silently crept into the room of the quartet and spread out around their bed. Aurora and Gabrielle, Dan and Emma, Jean-Paul, Apolline and Gabby, Arthur and Molly, and the five elves all had a similar grin on their faces.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" the entire group yelled and as expected, the quartet shook awake with several heads hitting one another and a mass of sprawling limbs. The first one to groggily open their eyes were Fleur and Hermione, followed by Ginny, but Harry grumbled a little and turned around trying to get back to sleep.

Once the girls realized what was going on, they were trembling with excitement and Fleur gave Harry and elbow to his shoulder to get him to rise up as well. "Yea, yea, chill out I'm awake."

Once Harry realized what was going on, he joined the girls in their excitement and soon the quartet was putting on their bathrobes to follow their parents to the kitchen for breakfast.

Once in the kitchen they saw a small pile of presents waiting for them on the table. As one they jumped at the pile but were stopped inches from the closest present. No matter what they tried, they couldn't touch the presents. It was as if some kind of force field kept them away.

Turning to their parents they noticed the smirks and grins the adults carried. "Manners kids," Gabrielle admonished them not unkindly. "Before you storm at that pile of presents like a bunch of unmannered barbarians, at least give us the chance to congratulate you."

The quartet walked to their respective parents and gave them all a hug, before going to the others and doing the same. When that was done Gabrielle nodded to Charles, who snapped his fingers and they saw a shimmering around the pile of presents as the barrier was removed.

Now that nothing kept them anymore, the kids almost literally threw themselves at the presents and started unwrapping. They got all kinds of things like Quidditch gloves for Harry, books for Hermione, Ginny got a new hair band, and Fleur a new pair of earrings.

Lastly they each received a small square package from Gabrielle, who handed them over with the words, "These are from Aurora and me, be careful with them."

The kids tore the wrappers from the packages and they each found a little box with in it a small silver key with a button on the top side. A little surprised they all looked at Gabrielle for an explanation and she said, "Harry, can I have your key for a moment?"

Harry handed his key over to his mother and with grin, Gabrielle aimed the key towards the middle of the kitchen and pressed the button. Out of nowhere, there suddenly appeared a red with gold ATV with on the gas tank the letters, 'HP'.

The eyes of the quartet went wide as they saw the machine appear and the girls were about to press the buttons on their own keys when Gabrielle stopped them. "Stop, don't do it indoors, there is not enough room for all four of them here in the kitchen. You can test them after breakfast once you are dressed. We are not expecting any guests until 3 PM, so you have until then to try them out."

When she stopped speaking she pressed the button again and the ATV disappeared again. "When you send them away they go to our private garage on Avalon, there they'll fill the tank and do maintenance, but you'll have to clean them yourselves. So I suggest you either keep them clean or learn how to cast a few good cleaning spells."

The rest of the day they spent with their friends and family, just enjoying their joined birthday.

The next day they were suddenly and rudely awoken by a growling voice who yelled, "GET OUT BED YOU LAZY SLACKERS, IT'S 5:30 IN THE MORNING AND MY TIME IS VALUABLE!"

The quartet didn't know what hit them and stumbled out of bed only to come face to face with a demonically grinning Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Harry asked chagrinned because of the rude awakening.

With the same demonic grin on his face, Alastor replied, "I have orders from your aunt Elizabeth to teach you the basics of magical dueling, so get dressed, I'm expecting you in the gym in 30 minutes." Without another word Alastor turned around and closed the door behind him.

When the door was closed again the quartet shared a look and as one they swallowed before Hermione muttered, "What on earth did we get in to?"

The others nodded agreeing and since they didn't want to test Mad-Eye's patience, they quickly dressed in their work-out clothes and made their way downstairs. They had just enough time to devour a single sandwich each, before Mad-Eye's deadline arrived.

Grumbling under their breath they made their way through the deserted hallway, not even the elves were awake yet, and to soon they arrived at the gym.

When they entered the gym, they didn't see Mad-Eye anywhere, but shrugging their shoulders, they went to sit against the wall and nearly dozed off until…

'BANG' a sound as if a cannon blast went off next to their heads had them all jump up in surprise, only to be hit by four successive stunners, that came from behind a treadmill.

The next thing they knew was Mad-Eye standing over them and saying in an exasperated tone, "Honestly, I had expected better from you four, especially since _those two_ are training you."

As he turned around Harry made to grasp his wand but before he could even lift his hand, Mad-Eye turned around and yelled, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE', causing Harry to miss his wand, which shot from its holster and fell on the ground.

When the four looked sheepishly towards Mad-Eye, they again saw that sardonic grin plastered on his face as he said, "Now, since you four are so clumsy, we'll have to start at the basics, _dodging."_

It soon became apparent that Mad-Eye's way of training someone to dodge was having them standing in a straight line, with weights attached to their arms and legs and try to evade the constant barrage of stingers he kept firing from both his wands. To their dismay, Mad-Eye was one of those wizards who possessed a Battle wand.

The difference between the school wand in Mad-Eye's left hand, and the Battle wand in his right was very obvious. The stingers from his left did just as the name said, sting. But those from his right, hit with the force of a sledgehammer, more than once throwing them of their feet.

After three hours, and dozens of bruises, Mad-Eye deemed the first part of their training completed and gave them permission to get breakfast, but he added, "You have half an hour, and then I expect all four of you in the lake room, we're not done for today.

The quartet groaned in an identical manner and followed a whistling Mad-Eye towards the kitchen, today was going to be hell.

Author's note:

I'm very sorry for my long absence and for the shortness of this chapter. My spare time is virtually none-existent at the moment and when I do have the time to write, I have a writer's block.

As for the contest, when I post the next chapter, it will be clear what is going to happen so I'm going to leave you with the following.

The only questions you have to answer are,

How will Gilderoy Lockhart die, and why is it that he is going to die.

The following hints are for you to use,

I really hate him,

His death will be gruesome,

It will be well deserved,

I sincerely hope that the next update will not be so long in the waiting.

With kind regards,

Medieval Maniak


	21. Chapter 21

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Chapter 20

Mad-Eye kept them occupied for the rest of the day having them practice accuracy while moving. He had set up an obstacle course around the lake with three dozen targets. Their mission was to run the obstacle course as fast as possible, while hitting each of the targets. If they missed one, he hit them with a stinger, from his real wand. Needless to say, they did it flawlessly after only two tries.

At the end of the day, the four were completely exhausted, to the amusement of Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan, Ivan and Sirius, who had been enjoying the 'show' for most of the afternoon. Since they had helped Alastor to set out the obstacle course, it seemed perfectly justifiable for them to watch the kids struggle through it under Alastor's 'encouraging' teaching method.

The next few days followed the same pattern, Mad-Eye woke them up at 5:30 and had them work until 14:00 in the afternoon. Then they had some hours for themselves, until Neville joined them at 19:00 for their evening work-out.

With the 8th of August, dawned a day Harry, Hermione and Fleur had been dreading since their stay at the Burrow. Today they would head to Diagon Alley to get their supplies for Hogwarts. But today was also the day that Gilderoy Lockhart would be signing his autobiography at Flourish and Blotts, which, for some reason, was in its entirety on the Hogwarts book list for all years.

Ginny and Molly had been discussing it enthusiastically over the past week and they had both agreed on a strategy. They would enter the shop and just refuse to leave until Lockhart had posed for a picture with the both of them and signed it.

That morning at the breakfast table Harry, Hermione and Fleur were teasing Ginny about Lockhart until Sirius and Remus walked into the kitchen. They would be coming along to Diagon Alley as extra security, as Aurora had said, "There is going to be a mass of people at the Alley today and Gabrielle and I have only one pair of eyes each."

The entire 'security' detail, or the 'babysitters' as Sirius called it, consisted of, Aurora and Gabrielle, Sirius and Remus and Dan, Ivan. Originally Dora had wanted to come as well but McAndrews had picked that day for field training so Buckingham Palace was understaffed, causing Dora to have to fall in there.

Emma also had to work so she was going to Avalon, but Jean-Paul, Apolline, Gabby and the Weasleys would meet them at the Leaky Cauldron.

At 9:55 they all gathered in front of the fireplace in the travel room and Ginny was the first to grab a handful of the sparkly powder and throw it into the fire turning it green. "Diagon Alley," she said and disappeared. The others followed her in quick succession, with Aurora arriving as last.

They greeted Tom and waited patiently until the others would arrive, Jean-Paul had pulled a few strings and the Delacours used an international portkey that dropped them off next to the hearth in the Leaky Cauldron.

While Fleur greeted her parents, Harry gave a hug to Gabby, who had pounced on him the moment they arrived. "Look, look Harry I lost a tooth." She said proudly before showing him the gap where one of her upper front teeth was supposed to be.

Just as Harry was about to answer, the floo flared up and the Weasley's started to arrive. It took half a minute for all 8 Weasleys and Joanna to arrive, and once they had it became a little crowded in the pub so Gabrielle proposed to move to the alley where they would have more room.

They made their way to the alley, after telling Tom to prepare lunch for 22 people, and soon they were walking in the bright sunlight of Diagon Alley. There they decided to split up. Arthur and Molly would take Ron to get all of his basic supplies like wand, cauldron, and robes. Fred and George, Percy, Bill and Charlie and Joanna all went off alone or in pairs. Jean-Paul, Apolline and Gabby stayed with the others, who made their way leisurely towards Gringotts.

When they arrived at the bank they immediately went to their standard desk, with Griphook behind it, and Harry said, "Good day Griphook, may your days be filled with glory and your enemies fall before you."

Griphook inclined his head with a grin and gave the reply, "Greetings Noble visitor may your wealth increase a hundredfold and your enemies flee in fear." Turning to Aurora and Gabrielle he added, "Started the lessens in proper etiquette I take it?"

Both women nodded with a grin and Gabrielle said, "We have, we need them all to be ready when the time comes and there is much for them to learn."

Griphook nodded agreeing and said, "Well then, what can I help you with this fine morning?"

Aurora grinned and said, "We just want to visit Harry's trust vault, it's time the kids got an allowance."

Griphook nodded and since there were no other members of Most Noble and Ancient Houses besides Elizabeth, he could just close his desk and lead them towards the carts. The Delacours, Sirius, Remus, Dan and Ivan decided to wait for them above ground and remained behind in the marble hall while the kids and Aurora and Gabrielle followed Griphook.

An exhilarating ride later, they arrived at vault 687 and Aurora fished a small golden key from one of the pockets in her jeans. They all wore casual clothing as opposed to wizarding robes since it was easier to move around in them. Whilst the kids had only their school wands with them, Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Ivan were all armed with SILH's, though they were camouflaged so as not the draw attention to them.

Aurora handed the key to Griphook who used it to open the vault and once the door was opened, the kids gasped in amazement.

Mounds of golden Galleons, piles of silver Sickles and heaps of bronze Knuts were waiting for them in the vault and Gabrielle said with a hint of amusement in her voice, "This is your pocket money for this year kids, 50,000 Galleons, a fraction of what is in the real vaults of the House of Potter."

The kids turned towards her and Aurora and Harry asked, "All right mom, you keep avoiding it but now I want an honest answer. Exactly how much gold is in the Potter vault?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared an amused grin before they both looked at Griphook who turned to the kids and said, "The current balance of the Main Potter vault stands at, 10 billion, 875 million, 203 thousand and 97 Galleons." The only response they got from the kids was blinking eyes before they all fell backwards in an identical move.

It took half a minute for Aurora and Gabrielle to wake the kids and when they had Harry asked softly, "Why on earth have I never heard about the fact that my family is so insanely rich?" The only reply he got was his mothers shrugging their shoulders in a non-answering way and Gabrielle handing Harry a familiar golden credit card.

"This is yours now Harry. We have used it to buy everything for you until now, but it is time that you learn how to handle money so you and the girls can use it now. Don't lose it and spend it wisely, the vault is refilled every year on your birthday, but I urge you all not to go overboard and start buying ridiculous things."

The quartet promised her that they would behave and Aurora said, "Very well then go back to the surface and you can spend until lunch on your own. We will go for your school supplies after lunch. Take the others with you, we have some other things to arrange while we are here."

Harry and the girls quickly gave them a hug before they followed Griphook out of the vault, before the goblin closed it again and they entered the cart to return to the surface. Aurora and Gabrielle knew the layout of Gringotts so they walked the short distance to a hidden doorway that led to the office part of the bank. Once there they headed for Ragnok's office and Gabrielle knocked.

When they were told to enter they opened the door and entered the office. Ragnok was alone and motioned for them to take a seat before his desk on which lay a large pile of documents.

They exchanged polite greetings until Ragnok addressed the subject he had invited them for. "I have asked you to come here, because I have managed to buy the remainder of the shares of the Daily Prophet of those who were willing to sell them."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked a little curiously at the goblin leader, as he had ensured them that he would manage to buy _all_ of the shares for them.

"Currently you own 78% of the shares, the remaining 22% are in the hands of the Ministry of Magic and they are unwilling to sell. Apparently Pudgy is afraid that they will no longer publish only what the ministry wants them to, if they no longer hold a substantial percentage of the shares."

"Well he is not wrong," Aurora remarked, "but it is unfortunate for us. Try offering twice the market value and if that doesn't work, let us know and we'll go talk with Pudgy, see if we can 'convince' him of the importance of freedom of press."

Ragnok nodded and took the top quarter of the pile of documents and handed them to Gabrielle. "Then if you would sign every third page of this pile we can finalize the purchase of the shares."

They did as he asked and after they both signed, the relevant parchment glowed green before disappearing. When they were done Ragnok took half of the remaining pile and handed those also to Gabrielle.

"This is the documentation of your purchase of Isla Craig, the process to make it unplottable and the right to exploit the mine there."

After they signed these as well Ragnok handed them the remaining pile and said, "These are the contracts of sale for the carcass of the Ironbelly you two slew in Transylvania. It was sold for a total of 8 million, 400 thousand Galleons, which have already been added to your vault."

The two women nodded and after singing the last pile of papers, they stood up and said goodbye to Ragnok. They made their way back to the marble hall and found the Delacours still waiting for them. Taking the lead, Aurora and Gabrielle led the Delacours into the sunlight of Diagon Alley.

They spent a few hours just strolling around the shopping district, occasionally running into others from their group. Just before 14:00, they made their way towards the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, where they met the others.

During lunch the kids spoke enthusiastically about what they had bought. Apparently Harry had been unable to resist the temptation and the kids had went to a magical jewelry story. The three girls were each wearing silver hoop earrings, with small golden dragons circling around the hoops. Harry himself was the proud owner of a new chess set. The board was made from dragon bone inlaid with black onyx, while the pieces were from white and black marble.

When Harry saw the looks of his mothers he went red and mumbled softly, "Sorry mom, but it was too tempting."

Soon Aurora and Gabrielle got a big grin on their faces and Gabrielle said, "Don't worry Harry, we had expected something like this, just don't make a habit of it." Harry nodded and the girls went to show off their new earrings to the others.

After lunch they went as a single group to do their school shopping. First up was the apothecary where most of them waited outside as the shop was too small. The others simply handed a list with what they needed to Aurora and Molly who were the only ones' brave enough to face the smell.

After fifteen minutes the two women came back out of the shop and handed out 8 bags, one to each of the kids. Next stop was Eeylops, where they bought bags of owl-treats for Pidgy, Hermes, and Pig, Ron's new owl which was even smaller than Pidgy.

When they got to Flourish and Blots, they saw that the line was extending 500 feet from the front of the shop. By far the greatest part of the queue was formed by women and girls, here and there an extremely bored husband, son or brother squeezed in between.

With the exception of Ginny and Molly, the entire group took a collective, 'SIGH,' before joining in at the back of the queue.

It took them nearly two hours before they made it into the shop, and then another 45 minutes before it was finally their turn. All that time Ginny and Molly didn't shut up for a single minute, all the time telling everyone else about the amazing things Gilderoy Lockhart had done.

When they finally stood before his table, Gilderoy Lockhart put a flourishing autograph on the front of a book using an extremely large peacock feather, before looking up and handing the book to Ginny who nearly swooned as he smiled at her.

As Lockhart looked past Ginny to the next ones in line, who happened to be Hermione and Fleur. He gave them a lecherous smile which caused Harry, who stood behind them and saw it, to growl softly.

The growl drew the attention of Lockhart who looked towards Harry and saw his scar. What happened next caused the biggest scandal in Diagon Alley since Aurora's confrontation with Rita Skeeter.

Lockhart jumped up, ran around his table and stormed towards Harry. When the girls went to stand before Harry to keep Lockhart away from him, he shoved them aside roughly, causing Ginny and Fleur to fall to the ground with a surprised yelp.

Harry saw red. As soon as he saw Lockhart touch Ginny and Fleur, he roared and stretching his right leg, he kicked the approaching Lockhart in the stomach so hard that he doubled over in pain. He followed the kick with a right hook to his jaw, breaking the bone in three places, taking six of his teeth and causing his wig to fly through the shop.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TO TOUCH ONE OF _MY GIRLS_ AGAIN, OR I WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS YOU BASTARD!" he roared as he kept punching the face of Lockhart, opening gashes all over it and giving him two spectacular black eyes.

When he had turned Lockhart's face into an unrecognizable lump of flesh and broken bones, Aurora and Gabrielle decided that it was enough. The entire shop stared in awe as Harry was beating the shit out of Lockhart, until he was being dragged away from him by his mothers.

The only sound in the entire shop was Sirius, Remus and Ivan who were rolling on the ground laughing so hard they had tears streaming down their cheeks. The reason was obvious as Lockhart's wig had landed before them and every picture of Lockhart in the shop was trying their utmost to summon the hairpiece, which was of course completely impossible.

Harry kept roaring and kicking until Fleur took his head between her hands and pressed a kiss on his lips. Harry immediately slackened in his mothers' arms and they decided it was safe to let him go. The two kids ignored the dozens of people who were pressed into the shop and kept kissing until Gabrielle more-or-less forced them apart. Several camera flashes had indicated that the journalists of various newspapers had gotten the story of their lifetime.

In the meantime, someone had obviously apparated to St. Mungo's and gotten some emergency healers, as half-a-dozen white robed witches and wizards came rushing into the shop to take care of Lockhart.

It took six healers more than half an hour to get him to a point that he was once again recognizable as a human being.

All that while Harry and the rest of the kids had been held apart in a corner of the shop, guarded from sight by Aurora, Gabrielle, Ivan, Dan, Sirius, Remus, Jean-Paul, and Arthur. Molly and Ginny had been completely disillusioned by the actions of their hero, and were sitting next to Harry, Fleur, Hermione, and Gabby.

The others had spread out around the shop and were doing their best to assist the shopkeeper into getting everyone out of the shop who did not have to be there.

When the healers had succeeded in patching up Lockhart enough to allow him to speak again, he stood up and, picking up his wig from the ground and putting it up again, he came towards them. Only to be stopped by Aurora, who went to stand directly in front of him with her arms crossed and said "What do you want, Lockfart?"

Ignoring the grinning of the others, Lockhart bit through the pain he still felt and said, "I wish to apologize for my actions. I was rash in my enthusiasm to see Harry Potter and I thought he would relish the opportunity to take a picture with me. After all, he is the second most popular wizard in the land, after me of course."

The sheer amount of self-glorification and adoration he showed with every word he said was so overwhelming that both Aurora and Gabrielle couldn't keep a scowl from entering their faces.

Unperturbed by their looks and the growl coming from Harry, Lockhart continued, "To make amends for my rash actions I would like to offer free sets of my books to each of the school going children of your company. After all, they shall be needing them for their school list for next year."

Now Aurora's scowl turned in to a frown and she asked, "What complete idiot was stupid enough to put that rubbish you call books on the reading list of Hogwarts?"

Either he didn't hear her insults or he ignored them and puffing out his chest he said, "It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the next Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor of Hogwarts, me."

He looked as if he expected them to bow down and worship him, but what he did not expect was for Aurora to growl out, "We'll see how long you last, but two things. First, I'm putting a veto on your books. Not a single book that is written by you will be allowed to be taken into the school. You will reimburse everyone who bought your books and now wishes to return them and put a decent book on the list, or I will do so myself if you are to incompetent to manage even that.

And second, remember one thing very clearly. We are at Hogwarts to protect the _students,_ not the _teachers._ So you ever lay a finger on any of the students, and Harry's threat will be the least of your concerns." The venom in her voice was so obvious that even Lockhart couldn't miss it and he swallowed audibly before making a hasty retreat to the healers, who took him to St. Mungo's for further healing.

When the obnoxious new professor had vanished, Aurora muttered, "What complete moron hired that idiot to teach DADA. I'll have to check it out but it'll surprise me if it wasn't one of his drooling fan girls."

After this eventful encounter, the group bought the books that were on their lists, except those of Lockhart of course, and concluded their business in Diagon Alley.

When the kids came down for breakfast the next morning, they found Aurora and Gabrielle laughing about an article in the Daily Prophet. The kids sat down and Gabrielle handed them the newspaper.

' _SCANDAL IN Diagon Alley,_

 _By Rita Skeeter._

 _Yesterday afternoon the shopping public in Diagon Alley was shocked by a sudden brawl between two of Britain's most famous wizards._ _Bestselling_ _writer and international hero Gilderoy Lockhart was suddenly and violently attacked by Harry Potter, the Boy_ _Who_ _Lived._

 _When I interviewed several of the eyewitnesses, they all said the same thing. Mister Lockhart, in his haste to get to Harry Potter, pushed two of_ _Mister_ _Potter's female friends who fell on the ground as a consequence._

 _In defense of his friends,_ _Mister_ _Potter continued to give his fellow celebrity the beating of a life time. How big the damage to_ _Mister_ _Lockhart's image will be has_ _to yet to been_ _seen, but no doubt the shame of being publicly beaten up by a twelve-year-old will stay with him for quite a while. The damage to_ _Mister_ _Lockhart's health was so severe that it took six healers half an hour to patch him up enough to be transported to_ _St_ _. Mungo's, where he will remain for at least another day._

 _Some might say that such excessive violence was uncalled for, but when asked for an official comment,_ _Mister_ _Potter's spoke goblin had this to_ _say_ _. "Mister Potter was in his full right to do as he did. Under article 26, section 5, of magical law it states that, when someone under the protection of a founding family is attacked, hurt or injured, any member of said founding family can respond with any amount of force he or she deems appropriate. And since_ _Mister_ _Potter is an adopted son and the heir apparent of the Most_ _Ancient_ _and Noble House of Emrys, his actions were fully justified._

 _In the aftermath of these events, it was revealed that_ _Mister_ _Lockhart has been hired as the new DADA professor at Hogwarts_ _School_ _of Witchcraft and Wizardry, though his teaching methods has been immediately hampered by the actions of High Lady Aurora Emrys. Using her founding Veto, she ordered_ _Mister_ _Lockhart to remove his own books from the reading list and to reimburse anyone who had already bought his books for school._

 _For the Daily Prophet this was Rita Skeeter._

"Hmm,' mused Harry. "She is a lot friendlier towards us then she was last time. Why would that be?"

The knowing grin shared between his mothers told him enough. But he still asked, "What did you do?"

Gabrielle stopped grinning for a moment and said, "We wrote that article and sent it to Rita Skeeter with a warning that she should send this in as her own article, or else she would have to prepare herself for a little visit from us."

Now the others laughed as well and breakfast was eaten in good spirits. After breakfast the kids went outside to finally test their birthday gifts. When they stood on the grass next to the lake, they all pushed the button on their keys and four ATV's appeared. They were all the same coloring as Harry's but they carried the initials of the respective owner on the gas tanks.

Stepping up they repeated the actions they had been shown by the marines in America and within seconds the four machines were humming smoothly. Playing with the throttle a little the kids carefully made their first lap around the lake. But as time went on they kept increasing the speed until they were throwing up large chunks of grass and sand behind their wheels as they fully opened the throttle.

They relocated to the lake shore and now were racing half in the water and half on the beach, causing them to become soaked as they raced for first place. After about three hours the engines started to sputter and when they looked at the gas meters they saw that the tanks were as good as empty.

Letting go of the throttle they let the ATV's run out until they stopped and they turned off the engines. With a sigh Harry said, "Charles." And said elf appeared with a huge grin plastered on his face and his hands filled with cleaning supplies.

He dropped everything next to Harry and with a cheerful, "Good Luck," he popped away again, leaving the children to clean their new toys.

It took them nearly half an hour to get the ATV's spotless again and when they were done, they pressed the buttons on the keys again and the ATV's were sent back to Avalon.

The remainder of August was spent with just having fun and training.

It wasn't until the 31st of August that something interesting happened. Harry and Fleur were engrossed in a passionate kissing session, part of a bet between the girls about which shirt Harry would be wearing, which Fleur won. Suddenly Fleur pulled back with a suppressed yell and Harry could taste blood, which freaked him out.

When Hermione and Ginny came running from where they had been sitting on the bed, they saw that Fleur's tongue was bleeding and had a puncture mark on it. Looking confused towards Harry they saw that he was a shocked as they were. But when he opened his mouth to apologize, they saw what was wrong, Harry's canines had turned into fangs.

When Harry saw their stares, he carefully used his tongue to inspect his teeth but was again shocked to feel the fangs. Bringing his hands towards his mouth he frantically began to touch his new teeth, as if he couldn't believe that he had them.

Totally freaked out, the girls began to inspect their own teeth and soon came to the same conclusion, they all had fangs. For a few moments they all panicked until Hermione remembered what Aurora and Gabrielle had told them last year when they had introduced the idea of becoming animagi.

"Wait guys," she said, "remember what mom said last year, our own bodies are likely to adopt aspects of our animagus forms." The others calmed down a little when they also remembered what Hermione mentioned, Aurora and Gabrielle had indeed told them that.

Deciding to check if what they thought was indeed the case, they sought out Aurora and Gabrielle. They found them in the gym, doing something they had seen them do more often in the time since their reveal as the Dark Angels. They were sparring.

They were both barefoot, and clad in nothing more than spandex shorts and sports bra's. Both were wielding small steel shields, each round and 30 inches across in their left hands, and large double headed battleaxes in their right.

Spinning the axes in their hands they slowly circled each other while trading the occasional blow which the other blocked with their shield. Their fight more resembled a dance, full of grace and deadly elegance, as they spun around each other. Their blows were powerful enough to kill any normal man, but they blocked them as if they were gentle caresses.

Eventually their sparring ended as they struck their axes together so hard that both handles shattered in their grasp and the axe heads fell to the ground. Turning to the kids they give them a grin, and placing their shields against the wall, they each took a towel to wipe the sweat from their heads.

"What's up kids?" Aurora's question seems to startle the kids and they realized that they were staring.

Quickly clearing their heads, Harry took the lead and said, "We discovered something," and pulling apart his lips, he bares his newly discovered fangs.

Now with a look of interest, his mothers immediately went to his side and inspected his fangs. They were roughly twice the length of the rest of his teeth and ended in vicious sharp points. They were teeth meant to sink into a prey and not let go.

When they were done inspecting Harry's fangs they looked towards the girls only to see them repeat Harry's move and bare their fangs as well.

Now both Aurora and Gabrielle got a devilish grin on their faces and with a nearly hungry growl in her voice Aurora said, "Well then, I guess it is time for your first hunt."

Author's note:

Well there you have it, this chapter is one I have been looking forward to since the beginning. From here on we will see the quartet's transition from children to warriors, as Aurora and Gabrielle lead them on a path towards the inescapable fate of war.

As on the subject of the contest, I think it is a little obvious as to what is going to happen to him now. None of you have gotten it completely correct, but I have declared a winner, the one who has gotten closest. I will contact that person via PM.

I cannot promise when the next chapter will come but I do promise it won't be as long as last time. I will try to update this story at least once a month but hopefully more often. My job is busy as hell at the moment so I don't have much time to write.

MM


	22. Chapter 22

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 21

Four large shadows were moving carefully through the undergrowth of a large forest. Ahead of them was a small clearing with a herd of wild boars digging for roots and mushrooms.

The biggest of the shadows sniffed the air to see where the wind was coming from and it was pleased that the wind was still coming from the clearing. His three companions were spread out around him and they formed a half circle around the clearing.

Lowering themselves to the leaves on the forest floor, the four shadows crept ever closer without a sound until they were mere feet away from the edge of the clearing. Slowly rising to its full height, the shadow parted its lips and licked its sharp fangs with his tongue, nearly able to taste the scent of coming bloodshed.

Looking to its left and right it saw that its companions were in position as well and taking a deep breath, it launched itself into the clearing, landing on the back of a large boar, and sunk its teeth into the boar's neck. While the boar fought a futile struggle to escape from the merciless jaws of his larger attacker, the rest of the herd of wild boars fled into undergrowth surrounding the clearing. All but three others made it out.

The shadow's companions had each also caught a boar and were fighting tooth and claw to claim their prizes.

With a sickening sound, the largest of the shadows ripped out the throat of the boar it was fighting and the beast fell to the ground as its lifeblood spilled from its ruined throat. On its left and right the other three boars were likewise defeated and killed.

When the shadows rose from their kills, the scent of blood and fresh meat in their nostrils was too compelling to ignore and with a ferocious hunger, they started to devour the corpses of the boars until a sudden sound ended their feast.

Two figures fell from the treetops above them and landed in the clearing, completely unperturbed by the carnage around them. The two figures stood up and their long hair shone in the light of the full moon above them.

Acting on instinct the shadow lunged at the nearest invader to protect its pack and their prey, only to be stopped when a hand grabbed its throat and smacked it in the face. "THAT'S ENOUGH HARRY."

Shaking his head from the blow, the black Fenrir came back from the blood induced trance of his first kill and recognized the figure who held him as Aurora. Changing back into human form he was released by his mother and when he looked round him he saw that Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had likewise turned back to their human forms.

As he looked around them he licked his lips and tasted the blood that still coated it. Spitting it out he looked at his hands and chest, only to find himself covered in blood. Around him the girls did the same, the shirts and shorts they were wearing were torn and covered in blood and their arms, legs and faces were equally covered by the boars' lifeblood.

Aurora and Gabrielle had followed the entire hunt from the tree tops and they were initially pleased at how well the four children were able to cooperate in their animal forms. Their Fenrir instincts and their bond gave them all they needed to understand the others' meaning with nothing more than a glance.

For over an hour the four Fenrirs had slowly tracked down the herd of wild boars. When they had come to the part of the kill, they did it flawlessly, not letting the animals suffer more than was necessary and ending it quickly.

However, when they gave into their animal instincts and started to devour the corpses of their kills, it had gone too far. The whole point of this exercise was to teach them control over their instincts and not to let their instincts control them.

"You lost control kids," Gabrielle stated calmly, "you were doing so well until you gave up control and began to feed on your prey. This is unacceptable behavior in a combat situation. You need to attack, kill, and move on to the next target. If you start to eat your kill in the middle of a battle you are sitting ducks. You must always stay in control, it is not easy we know that, but you have to work for it."

The quartet nodded and said as one, "Yes mom, we'll try to do better."

Aurora and Gabrielle accepted their promise with a small nod and Gabrielle said, "Anyway it is time for bed, it is past midnight and you need to wake up by 09:00 to be on time for the Hogwarts express."

The kids all nodded and after taking the hands of Aurora and Gabrielle the two adults flamed the kids back to Potter manor. The four carcasses were left behind to be found by scavengers and nothing remained of them when dawn arrived.

At 10:45 the next morning, the quartet, Aurora and Gabrielle, Dan and Emma, Jean-Paul, Apolline and Gabby and Ivan and Sergei arrived at Kings Cross. The latter two were added to keep any journalists away from the kids.

The quartet made their way onto the platform first, followed by the adults. The only reason the gateway allowed the four muggles to pass through was because Aurora and Gabrielle each held a hand of two of them and led them through, their own inner power overwhelming the muggle repelling charms on the barrier.

At the platform Harry and the girls quickly picked a compartment for themselves and placed the cage of Pidgy in it. Sparky was still at Hogwarts and according to Hagrid, he had spent the entire summer terrorizing the Owlery.

Turning to their parents Harry and the girls said goodbye to Dan and Emma and Jean-Paul and Apolline. Little Gabby clamped herself to Fleur's legs and refused to say goodbye until she had wrestled a promise from her sister to write her every week.

Aurora and Gabrielle gave them a quick hug as they would see them again at the opening feast that night.

As tradition, the Weasleys arrived less than a minute before the train would leave and hurriedly loaded the trunks of Percy, Fred, George, and Ron on the train. The youngest Weasley was visibly overjoyed to finally be going to Hogwarts, to the obvious irritation of his three elder brothers.

The quartet said their last goodbye's to their parents and closed the door to their compartment as they heard the whistle announce the trains departure. They waved to their parents from the window until the train went around the bend and the platform was no longer visible.

They sat down on the benches and Hermione opened Pidgy's cage to let the little owl out. The journey was rather uneventful. Their friends came by in small groups and Nott and his cronies had apparently learned their lesson last time and stayed away.

The thing most people noticed was Harry's lack of glasses. A few weeks ago he had woken up and noticed that he didn't need them anymore. When they inquired with their parents, it was Apolline who gave the most likely explanation. Glasses were not considered to be an enhancement of a human's inherent beauty so perhaps the Veela part within Harry had fixed his eyesight.

About halfway through the journey the door opened and a first year girl with silvery grey eyes and dirty blond hair entered their compartment. "Hey Luna," Ginny greeted the girl cheerfully. And the others followed her example. Introductions weren't necessary as they had already met at the broom event at Weasley Manor a few weeks earlier.

Luna took a seat next to Ginny, who sat next to Hermione, while Harry and Fleur shared the other bench. Since their public kiss at Flourish and Blotts, the magical tabloids had been overflowing with highly exaggerated stories of Harry and Fleur's relationship. When the press became too invasive, Aurora had decided to release the statement they had put together about their 'betrothal', and that had shut most of the gossipers up, though it did leave them with a few questions from Ginny's brothers as they had been told that Harry was in a relationship with Ginny.

They had explained the situation to them that Harry, as sole heir and only living member of an ancient and noble house, was strongly advised by law to have more than one wife. The boys understood and had all taken an oath not to reveal Harry's relationship with Ginny, as Fleur's was the one that was made public.

Fleur's current position was with her head on Harry's shoulder and she had been there since they had first sat down in the compartment.

"So how does it feel to be an Animagus?" Luna surprised them all with her dreamy voice.

The others all shared a look until Ginny asked, "How did you know Luna?"

With the same dreamy voice she said, "The Wrackspurts told me."

"Excuse me?" Hermione said with a little disbelieve in her voice.

"The Wrackspurts," Luna explained, "They're invisible but they often tell me things."

Ginny gave the others a look that said, 'Don't ask', and answered Luna's original question. "Well it is great Luna, though I would like to ask you not to tell anybody else about us being animagi, the ministry is not supposed to know."

Luna nodded dreamily and said, "Sure, my daddy always said that the ministry already has their nose in everyone's business and we don't have to push it in further. So don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Turning to Harry she added, "What I meant to ask you when we met during the holiday Harry, why is it that your mothers don't age. My father has an article from a muggle paper from nearly fifty years ago, on which they look exactly the same."

Now the mood turned uncomfortable as Harry and the girls shared a worried look until Harry said carefully, "That is a secret Luna, and we can't tell you. But if you talk to my mothers maybe they will tell you."

Luna nodded absentmindedly and rummaged around in her trunk before she sat back down on the bench with the latest edition of the Quibbler in her hands. As she started to read the magazine, the quartet resumed talking about inconsequential things.

The only other thing of note that happened during the trip was Ron and another first year who were staring trough the window in the door to their compartment. The second boy had mousy brown hair and carried a large muggle camera in his hands. They were obviously about to take a picture until Ginny send a stinger their way and scared them off, afterwards she closed the curtain to keep them from trying again.

When they arrived at Hogsmeade they said goodbye to Luna and quickly made their way towards one of the waiting carriages. They all petted the Thestral even though Harry was still the only one who was able to see them. When they were done petting, they stepped into the carriage and the Thestral started the trip towards the castle.

When they passed the gates and entered the grounds they felt the wards pass over them and Sarah greeted them cheerfully. " _Hello kids, it's nice to see you four again, had a nice summer?"_

" _Hello Sarah,"_ the quartet greeted her back and Harry added,

" _We had a great summer, thanks for asking. How was yours?"_

Sarah scoffed mentally and replied, " _It was boring as hell, I had to resort to picking on Dumbles just to break the boredom. I had the elves hide his entire collection of gizmo's all over the castle, it took him nearly a month to locate everything."_ They could all hear the amusement in her voice and they chuckled softly.

When they passed the massive walls of the castle they were once again awed by the intimidating sight of the many towers of Hogwarts.

They got out of the carriage before the front door and casually walked into the castle amongst the other students. Walking towards their regular spot on the Gryffindor table they saw that Aurora and Gabrielle were already seated amongst the other teachers. To their amusement Aurora was absolutely not happy, seeing as who was sitting on the other side of her it was not really a surprise. A sanctimoniously smiling Gilderoy Lockhart, complete with wig and bright sparkly magenta robes.

It would appear that none of the teachers were very pleased with their new colleague as they got a scowl on their face when he started talking, probably boasting about one of his 'heroic deeds'.

It didn't take too long for the Great Hall to fill up and when everyone was seated, the great doors opened again and professor McGonagall led the long row of first years into the hall. During the sorting the tables applauded when they got a new student and about the twentieth name McGonagall said, "Creevey Colin," and the boy with the camera from the train ran enthusiastically towards the stool.

"Gryffindor," the hat yelled and the boy ran towards their table, all the while staring at Harry, who was seated with Hermione on his left and Fleur on his right next to Ginny. Luckily there wasn't a seat near Harry and the girls so the boy was forced to sit about halfway down the table, as close as he could get.

Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and when it was the turn of Ron, he went bright red when the hat was on his head and when it put him into Gryffindor, he sighed in relief and sat down next to Colin.

During the feast nothing of note happened, though when the headmaster introduced their new teacher, he was not met with the usual applause.

"I would like you all to help me welcome our new DADA Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart." Dumbledore was met with disgust by most boys and a fair number of the girls, but still nearly half the girls, particularly those of third year and above, swooned softly when he smiled at them and waved elegantly.

Next to him Aurora acted as if she had to throw up, to the amusement of half the hall, and earning an approving grin from Fred and George.

Dumbledore motioned for silence and when the hall had calmed down, he took the word again. "Also I would like to ask you to help me welcome, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank and our very own Rubeus Hagrid. Both of whom will be assisting Professor Kettleburn with his lessons to see who will take over for him next school year."

Most of the hall applauded loudly for Hagrid as he was a well liked member of the staff already and this would give him a chance to realize one of his life-long dreams.

When the feast was over the students returned to their dormitories, the first years being shown by the prefects. Harry and the girls waited at the exit of the hall until Aurora and Gabrielle joined them. They used the secret passage to the seventh floor but as soon as they were inside and the door had closed behind them Harry turned to his mothers and said, "We have a problem."

At his mothers' raised eyebrows he explained, "In the train Luna Lovegood joined us and she had some interesting things to say. She knew we are animagi, and she asked us why you two don't age, as her father had a picture from a muggle paper from 50 years ago."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked both curious and a little worried as they exchanged a look. As they turned back to the kids Gabrielle asked, "Did she say how she knew that you four were animagi?"

The kids nodded and Hermione said, "She said that she heard it from creatures she called Wrackspurts."

"Ohhh, those buggers again," Aurora muttered and when the kids looked surprised that she knew what they were she added, "They are related to pixies but completely invisible. They have a knack to listen to things they are not supposed to and are known to be drawn to people who are 'a little odd'."

The kids had to chuckle at that as Luna definitely fit that description. "Don't worry about it kids," Gabrielle said, "we shall talk with Luna and make sure she doesn't tell anyone else."

The kids nodded in agreement and Gabrielle said, "You four head on up, we have some matters to attend to before we turn in." They gave them all a kiss on the forehead and a hug before the kids made their way up the tunnel and Aurora and Gabrielle went back out.

They made their way towards the office of Minerva and knocked on the door. When it opened and Minerva saw it was them, she motioned them into her office and offered them a seat. Once they were all seated Minerva asked, "Do you want to tell me why you are here, or shall I guess?"

The reply she got from Aurora was short but all-saying, "Lockfart." Minerva nodded in understanding and Gabrielle added,

"I do not know what idiot thought it was a good idea to hire him but they should get a serious mental examination."

"Furthermore," Aurora said before Minerva could respond, "there is something about him that we don't like so mark my words. He sets one foot out of line, and the question won't be _what_ will happen, but _who_ will get to him first."

Minerva nodded and replied, "I read your article in the Daily Prophet, and judging by the rumors, I need to ask. Did you or did you not help those four to become animagi?"

The grin she received in answer told her enough and she added, "What kind of animal are they?"

"Fenrirs," Gabrielle replied, only to sit face-to-face to a gob smacked Minerva as a result, "all four of them."

When Minerva had recovered she said, "I have never heard of anyone having an animagus form of that level. Aren't they on the same level as dragons and basilisks and the like?"

She received two identical nods and Gabrielle replied, "As far as we know, they are the only ones in history who have a XXXXX classification animagus form."

Minerva nodded weakly in understanding and said, "Well I can only hope that the Slytherins won't be so stupid to provoke them this year, it could get bloody."

Aurora and Gabrielle grinned demonically at that and Aurora said, "Exactly, which is the reason why I said it's a matter of _who_ will get to Lockfart first, as I'm tempted to let the kids have him."

Now looking scandalized Minerva cried out, "WHAT, do you intend to let those kids kill someone, and a teacher no less?"

"If that dumbass is a teacher and a human being then I'm a cute and cuddly goblin." Aurora's growled reply got a laugh from Gabrielle and even a small twitch of the lips from Minerva as they both tried to imagine a 'cute and cuddly goblin'.

Gabrielle took over and said, "Minerva, you need to understand something. Yes, they are kids today, but they will be soldiers soon. And if they are to survive the war to come, then they need to know death, and what it will do to someone to take another human's life."

"And besides," added Aurora, "it may not even be necessary for them to do something, if I catch him doing something _wrong_ , I'll rip out his spine through his arse."

That statement more or less concluded their talk and Minerva promised to keep an eye on Lockhart, so they said goodbye for the evening.

The next stop for the evening was Ravenclaw Tower, and a certain dirty-blond haired first year in particular.

When they reached the door without doorknob, which hid the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, Gabrielle placed her right palm on the door and said, "Open."

The bronze knocker that was shaped like an eagle opened its beak and said, " _All you need to do, is ask."_ The door opened, revealing the wide, circular common room with its arched windows and the midnight blue carpet covered in stars.

More than a hundred students still lingered in the common room, the others presumably had already left for their dorm rooms. As in every house, several distinct groups could be seen as friends and classmates got reacquainted after a long summer apart.

Most of the students looked up when the two professors entered their common room but a small group in a corner was too preoccupied by their actions to notice their entrance. A trio of fifth year girls were huddled around something located between two tall bookcases.

Thanks to the sudden silence in the room Aurora and Gabrielle could hear every word said by the trio of girls.

"…you're gonne do about it Loony?" one of the girls said, a brunet with a ponytail.

"Yea weirdo." Replied a girl with black, mid-back length curly hair and blue-grey eyes, who appeared to be the leader of the trio.

"You gonne cry to your mommy," said the third girl, a blond with green eyes.

"O wait," replied the black haired girl, "You don't have a mommy anymore do you? She blew herself up didn't she?"

That was all they were able to say, as within a second after the black haired girl finished, Aurora and Gabrielle stood behind them and Aurora cleared her throat before saying, "That will be two weeks of detention with Mister Filch for you three, Miss Kaschak, Miss Greenstein and Miss Franks."

The trio of girls turned around and revealed what they had been huddled around, a teary eyed and red-faced, Luna Lovegood.

The trio looked up towards the two professors with something akin to a fright-of-death, and when Gabrielle pointed towards the stairs leading to the dorm rooms, they fled towards them, not caring about anything but getting away from the stares of their fellow students.

While Gabrielle followed the trio with her eyes, Aurora kneeled down before Luna and softly lifted her head so she could look her in the eyes. When sapphire blue met silvery grey, a sudden flash went through her mind and for the first time in a very long time, Aurora was truly shocked by what she saw behind someone else's eyes.

After maybe half a minute Luna averted her eyes and blushing heavily she said softly, "I'm so sorry you had to see that."

Gabrielle had knelt down next to her wife and softly placed her index finger on Luna's lips silencing her apology. She too had seen what hid behind Luna's eyes and they really had to talk about this in a more private manner, as nearly a hundred students were still witnessing their every move.

Aurora and Gabrielle stood up and Gabrielle addressed the gathered Ravenclaws. "From now on we are holding each and everyone one of you responsible for Miss Lovegood's safety. If we ever get word that she is being picked on again, and you did not take actions against it, you will all be serving detentions with Mister Filch. Do I make myself clear?"

The collective group of Ravenclaws all nodded before Aurora and Gabrielle made their way out of the common room, taking Luna with them.

They brought Luna with them to the seventh floor and to their private tower. The quartet had already gone to bed and the two portraits were empty, their inhabitants elsewhere. Sitting Luna down on the couch between them, Aurora and Gabrielle each put an arm around the girl's shoulder. They waited in silence until Luna would make the first move. Which she did before long.

Soft sobs escaped from her throat and her shoulders began to shake as Luna burst out in tears. She grabbed Gabrielle around the waist and pressed her face into her side while she cried. Letting out all the grief and pain she had been piling inside her heart for the past two years.

Aurora and Gabrielle knew that there was very little they could do for Luna in this phase of her, finally started, grieving process, nothing except being there for her and comforting her where they could.

As terrible as the events they had witnessed in their long lives were, even they had not been forced to witness what Luna had seen on that day two years ago. The flash of memory that Aurora had witnessed from Luna's eyes was something you wouldn't even wish upon your worst enemy.

 _Luna was sitting in her mother's office, her legs dangling over the edge of the desk and talking animatedly to a young woman who looked like an older version of herself. The woman spoke back with an excited expression on her face. The words they said were lost in the memory but the images were all the clearer._

 _Her mother was waving her wand in complicated patterns at a large mirror that stood in front of her when suddenly everything went wrong. The mirror exploded in a thousand razor-sharp shards which sped at Luna and her mother._

 _Luna was frozen in fear as her mother jumped in front of her and shielded her from the shards with her own body. Luna looked wide-eyed as her mother fell to the ground, unmoving and limp._

 _The girl jumped from the desk and_ _kneeled_ _next to her mother, trying to turn her around and when she did she started screaming. Hundreds of mirror shards had pierced her mother's body and she was bleeding severely._

 _The right hand of her mother slowly wend up and caressed Luna's cheek, before it fell down and she moved no more._

"It's all my fault." Luna sniffed between her tears. "If I had just warned her then she would still be alive now."

"Sweetie," Gabrielle said softly to the crying girl, "there is nothing you could have done, you couldn't have known what would happen, it was an accident."

"It wasn't an accident," sniffed Luna, "because I knew what would happen. A few days before she died I had a dream in which exactly the same happened, to the last word she spoke to me. I had seen it all happen before, and I did nothing."

Now Aurora and Gabrielle were truly shocked. "Have you had more of those dreams Luna?" Aurora asked her softly.

Luna nodded and still crying softly she managed to say, "A few, and they always come true. I had one a few days ago about a conversation with Ginny, Hermione, Fleur and Harry, about them being animagi and today it happened on the train. Exactly as I saw it in my dream."

By now Luna had calmed down a little and Aurora knelt down before her so she could see Luna in the eyes. Gently lifting her head, she said. "Luna, listen to me. It is _not your fault_ that your mother died. Those dreams you have are not just dreams, they are prophetic dreams. You are a seer, and those visions you have are destined to happen, one way or another, unless you have the means the change them, which you did not."

Gabrielle nodded and added, "Sweetie, your mother gave her life to save yours, that is an incredible sacrifice. And you are not doing her any favors by blaming yourself over it. If you want to honor her memory, then you must accept that she is gone and that it is not your fault. You have your own life to live Luna, and you must do so with all of your abilities."

Luna looked up at them with glimmer of hope in her eyes and Aurora said softly, "If you ever want to talk, or if you have another one of those dreams, no matter what they are about, come to us. We have the power to change fate Luna, so if you ever need us, don't hesitate to ask for our help. The portrait will let you in at all times and I'm sure Harry and the girls will always be willing to help you."

Luna pressed herself against Gabrielle's side and said softly, "Thank you."


	23. Chapter 23

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 22

To the immense surprise of the entire staff and most of the school, Gilderoy Lockhart proved to be a very competent theoretical teacher. His ego and self glorification were tiring to the extreme, but he really seemed to know what he was talking about. Though the demonstrations lacked a distinct measure of existence.

During a very memorable first lesson, Lockhart released a cage filled with Cornish Pixies. After giving them a half hour long lecture about their abilities and weaknesses, he pointed his wand at the cage and said, "Good luck." The cage shot open and about three dozen electric blue pixies shot out of the cage.

As one Harry, Hermione, Fleur, Ginny and Neville threw their right wrists upwards and their wands shot into their hands. While the pixies caused a pandemonium in the classroom. They wrecked everything, from the large skeleton that hung from the ceiling, to the dozens of portraits of Lockhart that decorated the room.

The real Lockhart had fled into his office after one pixie stole his wig and a second had taken his wand. The rest of the class followed Lockhart's example and fled when the pixies began wrecking the classroom. Harry and the girls were firing stunners at the pixies bringing them down one by one, while Neville stood by the cage and summoned the downed pixies to put them back into their cage.

When the last of the pixies was stunned by Hermione, Harry caught it as it fell and threw it to Neville who locked it up with the others. They looked around them and saw the damage that had been done to the classroom. The place was simply wrecked, for such small creatures, they sure where able to do some serious damage.

When it was apparent that Lockhart would not make an appearance again during the lesson, the five friends left the room after leaving a little 'gift' for Lockhart. Fleur rennervated all the pixies and after Hermione unlocked the door, Ginny threw it open while Harry and Neville threw the cage with angry pixies into Lockhart's office. Ginny quickly closed the door again and with identical smiles they listened as pandemonium ensued once again, this time accompanied by the terrified screams of Lockhart.

The next time Lockhart was seen again was the next morning at breakfast. He was covered with scratches and made a skittish impression. He was nervous and spooked by almost everything. When Aurora asked him what was wrong he nearly had a heart attack. Their sharp hearing picked up four sniggering voices from amongst the noise in the Great Hall. When they looked to the source they saw Harry and girls trying to contain their laughter and carrying a very satisfied look on their faces.

Luna was seated between Ginny and Hermione, as the quartet seemed to have adopted her as sort of a little sister. Through their growth spurt the quartet looked several years older than they were, so Luna was nearly a full head shorter than the others.

The next lesson the quartet had from Lockhart, he was more or less back to his old self, with the addition of a dark scowl whenever his eyes came over the quartet or Neville. He made a point of ignoring the five friends whenever they wanted to give an answer or ask a question.

However, after a few weeks, the scowl turned into a look of hatred. It was not that they actually cared, but they still wondered why that was, as the pixie incident was already more than a month ago.

The first two months sped by for the students of Hogwarts and before they knew it, it was Halloween.

On the morning of the 31st of October, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had a bit of a sleep-in, seeing as it was a Saturday. At 10:00 they were woken by Gabrielle who shook them gently and said, "Get up kids, we are going on a trip today."

The quartet opened their eyes groggily and Harry muttered, "Where are we going?"

Gabrielle softly replied, "To the place you were born. It is time we showed you four what happened in Godric's Hollow, today exactly 11 years ago. Dress warmly and bring your cloaks, we'll leave immediately after breakfast."

This woke them immediately and Gabrielle left their room while the quartet got dressed. Downstairs she met Aurora who had just returned from Potter Manor with a portrait under her arm. Turning the portrait around, it showed James and Lily seated on a wooden bench under a willow tree.

A few minutes later the kids came down and when they saw the portrait Harry said softly, "Hey mum, hey dad."

"Hey kids," James and Lily responded a little subdued.

The girls likewise greeted the two Potters, before Aurora placed the portrait in one of her pouches and the group made their way downstairs to get some breakfast.

During breakfast, they sat apart from the rest of the school as all the others were celebrating Halloween and looking forward to the feast. Luckily none of their friends came to them in celebration, they all knew about the day's meaning for Harry and instead they came by to show their support.

The last to come by was Luna who stopped next to Harry and whispered a few words in his ear, before continuing to the head table. She came to a halt before Aurora and Gabrielle who looked at her curiously. Over the past two months Luna had come by them multiple times to talk or just to sit between them and feel comforted by them.

"I… I had a dream last night," Luna said softly, immediately drawing the undivided attention of both women.

They immediately stood up and walking around the table, ignoring the stares from their colleague's and the students, they accompanied Luna to an empty room off the entrance hall.

Luna sat down on a desk and while her legs were swinging over the edge, Aurora and Gabrielle sat down on two desk across from her and waited patiently for Luna to begin.

"I saw 2 shadows in a dark room, they were talking but I couldn't make out any words. One seemed to be excited and the other was more serious. They were hunched over a table next to a very large crate that was shaking violently as if something was trying to get out of it. Something that really stood out was a small black book that lay on the table, it kind of… shone, I think.

Next the dream shifted to the halls of the school, panic was evident on the faces of students I saw running in the direction of the great hall.

Finally, I saw the hall next to the girl's lavatory on the second floor. Large letters were written on the wall, written in blood. It said, _The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the Heir beware, the monsters will get you all."_

At those last words, Aurora and Gabrielle looked up in concern and shared a meaning full look before they turned back to Luna. Gabrielle gently placed her hand on Luna's face and made her look at her. "Thank you Luna, for telling us this. We will take care of it, and make sure it doesn't get out of control. You just forget about this and try to enjoy your day, we will see you tonight at the feast okay."

Luna nodded and after giving them both a quick hug, she left Aurora and Gabrielle in the room and returned to the Great Hall. As soon as she was gone Aurora said, "Sarah, tell Melody to be on her guard and attack anyone she doesn't know."

"Right away." The disembodied voice of Sarah replied and Aurora returned her attention to her wife.

"What do we do? Go anyway and risk something happening while we're gone, or stay here?"

"We go," Gabrielle replied, "we tell the staff to be on guard for anything unusual and have an evacuation plan at the ready. And just to be sure, we tell Ivan and the Black Angels to be ready at a moment's notice."

Together they returned to the Great Hall and when they stood before the staff table Aurora said, "Staff meeting, right now." Before they both walked towards the trophy room behind the staff table.

It took less than a minute for the others to follow and once everyone was gathered in the room Gabrielle began. "Miss Lovegood just came to us with a warning of danger. At the beginning of the year we discovered by chance that she has prophetic dreams."

At this the eyes of the divination professor, Sybil Trelawney, went even bigger than normal but before she could get to enthusiastic Aurora growled, "If you even come near that girl I will sack you so fast even your second sight won't see it coming."

This effectively shut the other women up and Gabrielle was able to continue with her explanation. "As I was saying, Luna came to us with a warning, last night she had a dream about something that is going to happen at Hogwarts.

We do not know what might happen, nor who might be behind it, all we know is that it might involve the Chamber of Secrets." She ignored the gasps of shock and disbelieve from some of their colleague's and added, "So I want you all to be extra alert for anything out of the ordinary."

At this Aurora took over and said, "We have an intervention team standing at high alert, so if _anything_ happens, I want you to evacuate the school and let us handle the rest. We will be gone for most of the day, as other matters need our attention for now, but Minerva knows how to contact us in case of an emergency."

Minerva nodded in confirmation and Gabrielle dismissed the group of professors before she and Aurora returned to the Great Hall.

They saw that the quartet was finished with their breakfast and so instead of sitting back at the head table, they walked around it toward where the quartet was seated. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny stood up and joined Aurora and Gabrielle towards the entrance hall.

Once they were in the hall Aurora said, "You guys go pick up Elizabeth, I need to speak with Anderson real quick before I'll meet you at the palace."

"Is Aunt Lizzy coming with us to Godric's Hollow?" Harry asked. It was reassuring to have another member of his family with them when they would go back to that place for the first time.

Gabrielle nodded and after giving Aurora a kiss, she led the kids out of the school and towards the edge of the wards from where they would take a portkey to London.

Aurora headed to the nearest room and from there she flamed directly to Avalon. She arrived in the entrance hall of Camelot and from there she made her way towards Anderson's office. She found him in conference with Zhukovo and Woolsey.

All three stood up and after a quick salute from the three men Anderson said, "My lady, what brings you here so unexpectedly?"

"Unfortunate events Anderson, unfortunate events. We have received something akin to a bomb threat at Hogwarts. One of our students has had a prophetic dream about a possible attack on the castle and I need Ivan and the Black Angels to be on standby, as well as a full unit of field healers."

Anderson nodded and gave the appropriate orders through his earpiece, before turning back to Aurora. "Any idea who could be behind it, or what it is about?"

With a dark scowl on her face Aurora replied, "We have some kind of calling card, as the dream spoke about the Heir of Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets. I know of only one person who claims the title Heir of Slytherin, and that is Voldemort himself.

That part about the Chamber is complete rubbish as even if he knows where it is and is able to open it, Melody will eat him before ever listening to someone like him. Which makes it all the more dangerous as we don't know what kind of monsters this supposed heir will release. So, I want the healers to bring antidotes and remedies for any magical creature we know of."

"So, full EXO's and live ammo I think?" Anderson said to which he immediately got confirmation from Aurora.

"We are not taking any risks with this, Gabrielle and I will not be at the school today as we will show Harry and the girls what happened in Godric's Hollow when James and Lily died. Minerva, Sarah and Melody will keep an eye out for any hint of danger and inform us the moment something strange happens. Gabrielle and I are both wearing our armor, beneath our clothes, so if something happens we'll be ready at once."

Anderson nodded once more and Aurora turned her attention to the other two men in the office. "Woolsey, Zhukovo, how are things with the MPACS' is everything still going according to schedule?"

Zhukovo was the first to reply and he said, "Most of my aircrews have already finished their training in the U.S. for the Osprey's, so they'll be ready when the first batch is delivered."

"That's very good," replied Aurora and she turned to Admiral Woolsey, who answered in his strict military tone.

"Installation of the Railguns is nearly complete on both ships. Ammunition magazines have been completed and the automatic loading systems are functioning properly. Both crews and marines have completed their training and all vehicles and other material are standing ready to be loaded on board."

Aurora nodded in acceptance and said, "Excellent news Admiral, please inform me when the work is done so we can plan the sea trials. I have a very interesting trial in mind."

Woolsey saluted her and sat back down before Aurora took her leave from the three men, flaming directly into the sitting room at Buckingham Palace.

She found Harry sitting next to Elizabeth on one of the couches with Hermione on the other side of him. Fleur and Ginny were sharing another couch with Gabrielle while several members of the Top Squad where spread out around the room. Sirius, Mad-Eye, McAndrews, and Kingsley were seated around the room, all feeling a little uncomfortable with their intrusion on such a personal occasion.

Everyone looked up at the sudden burst of sapphire flames and when they burned out, Gabrielle stood up and said, "Now that we are all here, I think it is time to go."

The others likewise stood up and they made their way towards the portkey point of Buckingham Palace. Once there, Gabrielle handed out a length of rope and once they all had a hold on it, she said, "Godric's Hollow," and the entire group spun away.

They reappeared in a small village square, in the shadow of a chapel. They were awaited by two Legionnaires in Spartan EXO's, one showing his face and being Sergei. As soon as he saw the group land he came towards them and made a small bow to Elizabeth before saluting his superior officers.

"Your Majesty, my Ladies, perimeter is secure and the entire area has been searched for traps and other dangers, both magical and mundane. My squads are spread out around the village under disillusionment to prevent civilian unrest and to intercept any possible threat."

Aurora and Gabrielle saluted Sergei back and Aurora replied, "Good work Lieutenant, lead the way."

Sergei saluted again and said, "Right away ma'am, if you'd follow me then."

He turned around and with his second-in-command besides him, he led the group towards their destination. While they followed Sergei, Harry and the girls walked besides Aurora and Gabrielle and Harry asked his moms, "Why are Sergei and those other Legionnaires here mom?"

Both women had a sad smile as Gabrielle answered, "You and Elizabeth are not the only ones who lost someone important on that Halloween night Harry. Death Eaters could be coming here as well to commemorate their fallen master. We are not taking risks kids, you four and Elizabeth are too important to take any."

This really drove home the importance of the place they were about to visit and Harry and the girls realized that Gabrielle was right. This was not only an important place for their side of the conflict, but it held great significance for the Death Eaters as well.

They walked for a few minutes until they reached a small street with a dozen small cottages on both sides. The last house on the left was their destination and it immediately became clear why. The garden was kept perfectly and if it wasn't for the obvious damage done to the building, it looked exactly like the ones besides it.

Half of the top floor of the cottage was blown apart and the wreckage was spread out over the garden. "That used to be your room Harry," Elizabeth said with clear emotion in her voice.

She stood behind him and he pulled her arms around him, needing the comfort. The girls were on either side of them and leaned into Harry to offer their own support. Behind them Aurora removed the portrait of James and Lily and handed it to Sergei's second-in-command, who held it up so James and Lily could see both the house and the group of people.

"This is where it happened." James began softly. "We were sitting in the living room, I was creating smoke rings for you. They were all the colors of the rainbow and you always loved to play with them.

As soon as Voldemort touched the gate we felt the wards fail. I knew it was too late for all of us to get out, so I told Lily to get you and flee while I tried to stop him. I knew I was going to die, but I hoped to give you two a change to get out alive.

We had an emergency portkey hidden in your room so Lily took you upstairs to get it, while I tried to fight him. I had barricaded the front door with half a dozen locking charms but he just broke right through them. It took him three spells to get me on my knees and the last thing that shot through my head was the hope that Lily had managed to get you out safely."

At this point, most of the group had difficulty keeping their tears in and Harry and the girls were not even trying anymore. When Lily took over it proved too much for Elizabeth as well.

"I carried you upstairs, to your room and immediately went for the portkey, which was one of your teddy bears, but when I tried to activate it, it failed. Apparently, Voldemort had put up his own wards when ours failed and my last hope was torn away. I did the only thing I could, I put you in the crib and tried to blockade the door as good as I could. But just like with James, it didn't hold him long.

He broke through and I did a last effort to save you. I begged him to take me, to kill me instead and let you live. But he laughed and ordered me to move. I refused, four times he ordered me to move and four times I refused to step aside, so he aimed his wand at me and a green flash was the last thing I saw as I was hunched over your crib.

What happened next I can only guess but Voldemort tried to kill you as well and somehow the curse rebounded, destroying him instead."

When Lily fell silent Gabrielle took the word, "We know what happened. Your sacrifice is what kept Harry alive. Your love and willingness to sacrifice your own life for his, gave him a protection that nothing could break. It is the only kind of ward that can stop an Avada Kedavra.

It is ancient magic, and very powerful. Dumbledore is right about one thing, love really is the most powerful force in the world."

The group was silent for a while until Harry asked softly, "How is it that it looks like it happened yesterday, I had expected the place to be overgrown."

This time it was Aurora who answered, "Lord Ragnok had his best ward masters place a conservation ward on the entire area, putting the house and the garden under its effect. It is kept this way to honor the memory of James and Lily and the peace they brought to Britain, even if it is only temporarily."

Another silence followed until it was broken by Elizabeth. "Let's go, we have one more place to visit while we are here."

As one the quartet muttered, "The graveyard."

Elizabeth nodded and turned around to lead the group back towards the church, while Aurora got the portrait back from the Legionnaire. She put it back into her pouch before catching up to the others.

They walked calmly and without being disturbed by anyone. Several people crossed them on the street, but they were left alone. When Hermione asked about it, Fleur and Ginny stopped to listen and Gabrielle answered, "Elizabeth is covered in transfiguration spells, so she looks like someone completely random. And our entire group caries notice-me-not charms."

Content with this answer, the girls continued on the way towards the graveyard, which was next to the church. Once they reached it, Elizabeth took the lead of the group while Sergei and the second legionnaire stayed behind at the gates with the members of the Top Squad.

Elizabeth led the group to a row of graves that were newer than the ones they passed first until she stopped before a simple white marble stone. It read, ' _James & Lily Potter, 31 October 1981.' _And below that _, 'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.'_

"What does it mean," Harry asked softly when he read the inscription.

"It is a quote from the bible," Elizabeth replied softly, "I chose it myself. It means that the last enemy to be faced and defeated is death, and the reward is a life after death, to live on after death. Muggles and magicals see it differently. For the magicals, the spirits of your parents are still around, living in the portrait, but for the muggles they are just gone.

The muggles have another way of living on after death through religion, and each religion deals with it differently."

Harry nodded softly in understanding before sinking down on his knees and softly laying his right hand on the white stone. The girls sat down around him with Hermione directly behind him and Fleur and Ginny on either side of him. Hermione hugged him from behind while Fleur and Ginny put their heads on his shoulders as tears were streaming down his cheeks.

They stayed like that for several minutes while the three women looked on, having to remove a tear or two themselves. Finely Harry indicted he was ready and the four children rose up again. "I… I… I forgot to bring flowers." Harry muttered as they stood upright again.

"Don't worry Harry," Elizabeth said softly, "I took care of that." The kids looked up and saw that Sergei came walking towards them carrying a large wreath made of white roses.

With a compassionate expression, Sergei handed the wreath to Harry, who took it and with the help of the girls he placed it on the grave. They folded out the ribbon and read what was on it. It was simple but all saying to Harry. ' _Mom and Dad.'_

The girls gave Harry an extra firm hug while they stared down at the wreath-covered grave in silence. After another five minutes the kids turned away from the grave and Harry gave the four adults a weak smile. With a little sniff, he said, "Let's go back to Hogwarts," and he started the trek back to the entrance of the graveyard.

"We're not going back to Hogwarts Harry," Aurora said with a small smile as she walked behind them. "You guys need some cheering up so we're going to visit an old friend of you and Hermione, we're going to the London Zoo."

At this both Harry and Hermione cheered up considerably and said at the same time, "Murinus."

This drew a confused look from Ginny and a recognizing look from Fleur who explained to Ginny. "Murinus is a friend Harry and Hermione met when Dan and Emma took them to the Zoo once, and trust me, he's huge."

"Exactly how huge," asked Ginny a little suspicious. By now she was used to the odd kind of animals her new family liked. "Are we talking like a tiger, or something?"

With a 'humpf' like noise Fleur replied, "Try the world's biggest captive anaconda, it's a fucking 33-foot snake."

Ginny paled instantly and turning towards Harry and Hermione she asked softly, "Please tell me you are not friends with a snake, I thought we were Gryffindors not Slytherins."

With a small cough, Gabrielle broke into the conversation and said, "Ginny, Aurora and mine's oldest friend is a snake, they are really kind creatures as long as you don't bother them. And besides, all of you are parseltongue's, so no snake would ever harm you."

This seemed to reassure Ginny a little and she held the gate open while the rest left the graveyard. They walked back to the point from where they arrived and Gabrielle once again pulled the length of rope from a pouch. Handing it out and once everyone had a hold, she said, "Buckingham Palace," and they were pulled away back to London.

Once they landed Elizabeth and her escort took their leave for official business while Aurora and Gabrielle led the quartet towards the garage. They entered a black SUV which was driven by an MSS agent.

It took them about an hour to get from the palace to the zoo and when the SUV stopped before the entrance, Harry and Hermione almost dragged Fleur and Ginny out of the car while Aurora and Gabrielle thanked the driver for the ride.

When they reached the entry gates Fleur and Ginny were a little surprised that Harry and Hermione just ran through without getting tickets. They just waved to a woman standing on the side and said, "Hey Lucille," before running right through.

When Aurora and Gabrielle reached the entry, they were met by the director of the Zoo who greeted them politely. The woman shook their hands and said, "It is good to see you again ladies. I have to say I'm relieved you came so soon, as we have no idea what is wrong with him. We have had half a dozen different experts check on him but all they could come up with was that, he was feeling depressed."

While they walked towards the reptile house Gabrielle said, "Don't worry Lucille, I'm sure the kids can cheer him up, they have always done so in the past."

Lucille nodded hopefully and said, "That was my hope as well, I have never seen Murinus act as happy and content as he was when they were here. The way those three interact is remarkable, it is almost as if they can talk to him."

The chuckle she received from Aurora and Gabrielle reassured her that they were confident everything would work out.

As soon as the kids arrived at the Reptile House they were met by one of the employees, a 38-year-old man named Gary, who was Murinus' caretaker. "Good to see you two again kids, he has been depressed ever since you two stopped showing up for you bi-weekly visit."

Harry and Hermione looked a little ashamed and Hermione said, "Yea we were afraid of that, but as we told you last year. We were shipped off to boarding school in Scotland and didn't have any opportunity to come here and visit."

"Tell that to him." Gary muttered, "I swear to god, it's almost like magic the way you two handle him."

Harry and Hermione grinned before Hermione introduced the other two. "Gary, you have met Fleur before and this is another close friend of ours, Ginny. Ginny, this is Gary, Murinus' caretaker."

Gary and Ginny shook hands before Gary brought them to a separate wing of the Reptile House which held the snakes. In a huge, partly submerged terrarium, easily 100 feet by 100 feet, they saw Murinus floating lazily around in a large pool. He was obviously bored and his normally shiny scales looked dull.

"Murinus," Harry and Hermione said at the same time and they instantly saw the giant snake's head shoot out of the water and look right at them. If it had been a dog he would have been wagging his tail like crazy, but Murinus was just swimming in circles in joy at seeing his friends again.

" _Harry, Hermione, you came back."_ Both Fleur and Ginny were shocked to hear the snake speak to them. This was possible due to the small holes that were put at the top of the 2 foot thick acrylic window.

Harry and Hermione smiled widely and ran towards a hidden door next to the massive terrarium. Fleur, Ginny and Gary followed them in a hurry and the public looked with interest towards Murinus, as his sudden change in behavior did not go unnoticed.

With a little worry in her gut Ginny asked Fleur, "They are not planning on getting in there with that snake are they?"

Fleur grinned softly and replied, "Do you seriously have to ask that, of course they are. Even Gary doesn't dare to do it, but since Aurora and Gabrielle paid for this entire tank, they are allowed a bit more freedom than the normal visitors."

And indeed, when they reached the heavily bolted door to the terrarium, Harry and Hermione where almost done unbolting the door. When the last bolt was loose, Gary handed them each a dead hare, as the director of the Zoo had made the condition that Murinus had to be fed first, before they would be allowed in.

Harry opened the door and they found Murinus already waiting for them with his massive maw opened up. Hermione was first and she threw the hare into the air, where it was snatched up by Murinus with lightning reflexes. The hare was swallowed within a minute and Harry threw the next hare which was devoured just as fast.

When the second hare was gone as well, Gary allowed them to go in and Harry and Hermione nearly jumped into the terrarium. To the obvious shock and amazement of the public, the gigantic snake began rubbing his body against Harry and Hermione, who in turn stroked his smooth scales.

Fleur followed them in slowly, she had been in with the snake before but she was still very intimidated by Murinus. Ginny refused to even get near the door and observed the scene through a peek slit in the wall.

" _Hello Fleur,"_ Murinus said to Fleur when he noticed her presence _. "It hasss been a while sssinccce I lassst sssaw you. Why isssn't the fourth coming in? Isss ssshe afraid of me?"_

" _Yea kind off,"_ Hermione replied while she was scratching the scales just behind his head. " _Her name isss Ginny, Aurora and Gabrielle made her like usss, so ssshe can ssspeak with you asss well."_

At this Murinus moved his head towards the peek slit and looked directly at Ginny, " _Hello Ginny, niccce to meet you. If you come in here I can properly greet you. You need not be afraid of me, I would never harm a human."_

This settled most of Ginny's worries and she left the slit to stand in the door opening, where she was met by Murinus' head. Ginny hesitantly stretched out her hand and as Murinus got closer she closed her eyes, only to open them again when she felt a soft tickle on her hand. Murinus was tickling her with his long forked tongue. His sparkling black eyes reminded her of Hagrid's and this literally drew her over the edge.

She stepped into the terrarium and joined the other three in rubbing Murinus' smooth scales. " _Ohhh that feelsss ssso good,"_ he hissed with obvious pleasure in his voice.

Outside the terrarium the crowd had multiplied exponentially once the news got out that a couple of children were cuddling with the world's largest anaconda. Aurora and Gabrielle were standing on the side with Lucille, who looked onto the scene with obvious delight.

"Told you so," Gabrielle said to Lucille, "the kids will cheer him up in no time."

Lucille nodded and said, "I'm just worried about how long he has left. He really is a miracle of nature, nearly twice the size of a regular anaconda and with his 53 years, he's 23 years older than the previous oldest.

Sometimes I wonder if he wouldn't be better off somewhere secluded, where he can live his life in peace, without the hundreds of people knocking on his glass every day. If he wasn't the biggest people magnet of the entire zoo, I probably would have replaced him with a few younger versions to give him some peace and quiet."

Aurora and Gabrielle looked interested at this and Aurora said, "I'll take a look at him later and see how his condition is. If you really want to think about replacing him, we have plenty of room at the manor to give him all the space he needs. We'll even arrange for replacements for him."

Lucille looked interested at this offer and said, "I'll put your offer before the board and see what they'll say about it. I'll let you know what they decide."

Both Aurora and Gabriele nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to watching the kids pamper Murinus.

They stayed at the zoo for several hours until suddenly a loud buzzing came from Aurora's left jeans pocket. She pulled a silver MSS badge from her pocket and swore loudly, drawing the attention of several bystanders.

Gabrielle who stood next to her, had read the message over her wife's shoulder and ran hurriedly through the crowd towards the hidden door next to the terrarium to get the kids. Meanwhile Aurora had plucked out her earpiece from her breast pocket and was contacting Ivan.

" _Angel one to Black Leader, come in Ivan."_

" _This is Black Leader, go ahead."_

" _Hogwarts, entrance hall, five minutes. The heir has struck."_

" _We're on our way, see you there, Black Leader over and out."_

Gabrielle had quickly plucked the children out of the terrarium and after they said goodbye to Murinus, they followed Gabrielle back out into the main area of the Reptile House and joined Aurora.

"What's going on mom?" Harry asked a little worried.

With a dead-serious face Aurora replied, "Minerva just send a message," and she showed the kids the back of the badge.

' _Multiple sightings of large snakes, possibly basilisks, three students petrified."_


	24. Chapter 24

WARNING: Towards the end, this chapter is getting very, _very_ dark. Definitely not to be read lightly. Warning will be set before it begins. Please don't judge, everything has a reason for happening and will be explained next chapter.

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 23

" _What's going on mom?" Harry asked a little worried._

 _With a dead-serious face Aurora replied, "Minerva just send a message," and she showed the kids the back of the badge._

' _Multiple sightings of large snakes, possibly basilisks, three students petrified."_

"What now," the quartet said in unison and Aurora replied,

"We are going back to Hogwarts, you are going to get dressed in your armor and then we are going to hunt down a real enemy."

The kids gave four identical small nods and the adults dragged them away to a small side room. They flamed directly into the travel room at Potter Manor, and then went on to use the fireplace to get to Professor McGonagall's office. From the office, they flamed to their own tower and the kids hurried upstairs to put on their armor, while Aurora and Gabrielle stayed down stairs and removed their outer clothes to reveal their own armor.

Quickly pulling their swords from a pouch and attaching them to their proper place on their armor. All the while Aurora was talking to Sarah who was occupying her portrait.

"Give me details Sarah, what are we dealing with?"

"The supposed 'heir' has released a nest of basilisks into the school, so far I'm tracking 7 individuals, all of which have made victims."

"VICTIMS," both Aurora and Gabrielle yelled at once and Sarah continued somberly.

"Yes, victims. So far 9 students have been attacked along with three elves. Unfortunately, two elves and three students did not survive."

"Which students?" both asked a little fearful, immediately thinking about Luna or one of the other friends the kids had made.

"A third-year Gryffindor, Cormac McLaggen. He was cornered by a duo of basilisks along with two of his friends. The two friends were only petrified thanks to a pair of passing ghosts, but Cormack got a full look.

The other two are two seventh year Ravenclaws who were attacked while they were using a toilet stall on the fifth floor to have sex."

The two women cursed at the lost lives but were secretly glad that it was not one of those who were close to them.

"Where are the other students?" Gabriele asked and the portrait answered,

"Minerva has ordered everyone to the Great Hall and most students are there. The hall is sealed and the elves are rounding up stragglers and 'popping' them to the hall."

"How many are still out there?"

Aurora's question was met by Sarah closing her eyes and getting a look of intense concentration on her face before she answered. "I can sense half a dozen human life forms still in the castle, three seventh years have locked themselves in a store room on the third floor, but the elves have already found them.

The other three are Professor Flitwick and two students who are holed up in the charms classroom, with one of those monsters right outside the door. I have sent elves to them as well."

Shortly after, the kids got back down stairs dressed in full armor except for the heads, as they didn't have helmets yet. As soon as they were gathered, the two adults stretched out their hands and the kids grabbed them, before they flamed to the entrance hall.

When they appeared, they were already awaited by Ivan and the rest of the Black Angels. The 50 Legionnaires struck an awe-inspiring sight, dressed in the black EXO's with the red dragonheads on their chest plates. They were all armed to the teeth with their large rifles and taking after their leaders, each of them had a sword strapped across their backs.

Even with all of them masked, Ivan stood out because of his sheer size and he quickly walked towards them, his unit close on his heels. Outside the doors, they could see the requested unit of 10 field healers, they stood out from the others thanks to the large red-on-white crosses that were painted on each of the shoulders of their EXO's.

The field healers were the only magicals outfitted with EXO's, even though they were witches and wizards, they were an integral part of the legion and they go where the legion goes, even into the frontlines. Besides that, all combat healers were also trained as battle mages by the MSS, so they could hold their own in a fight.

"My ladies," Ivan greeted them shortly while saluting them, a move that was immediately followed by the entire unit.

"Ivan," Aurora replied with a small nod. "This is the situation, we have at least 7 basilisks slithering around the castle. They have already killed three students and two elves, and we are not going to let them add a sixth fatality.

We split up in six teams; you send ten legionnaires with each of the kids. They are all parseltongue's so immune to a basilisk's stare. The rest are coming with…"

She was interrupted by a loud crash as the wall directly behind her exploded in a large cloud of dust and rubble. " _HALFBREEDSSS. WEAKLINGSSS. MURDERERSSS."_ The furious hissing echoed through the hall, but when they searched for the source, all they saw was a small, 4-foot snake, crawling its way out of a pipe in the ruined wall.

Before any of the kids could comment on it though, the snake suddenly grew exponentially until it was well over 100 feet. Fleur and Ginny actually fainted when they saw the snake and more than half of the Black Angels immediately aimed their rifles.

"STOP." Before they could fire, Aurora's voice stopped them and when they turned to her, she continued speaking, not to them but to the snake. "Hello Mel, so Sarah told you what was going on."

The giant snake raised herself up and still hissing furiously she replied, " _Yesss. And if that ssstupid ssstone hadn't locked me in, I could have ssstopped them much sssooner. Posssibly even preventing any casssualtiesss."_

With a low growl, Aurora looked up at the sealing and said softly, "Sarah."

"I could not unleash her into a school filled with unknowing children. It would only have added to the chaos and possibly caused the teachers to attack her as well." The disembodied voice of Sarah sounded through the hall and she sounded just as irritated as the others were feeling.

"SHUT UP, ALL THREE OF YOU!" Gabrielle quickly put a stop to the beginning argument and continued, "We get these bastards first and afterwards you three can continue this futile argument."

With the other three placated for the moment, Gabrielle turned back to the kids and the Black Angels. She saw that Harry and Hermione had managed to wake up Fleur and Ginny, and that the Black Angels had lowered their weapons.

"Okay," Gabrielle said a little exasperated, "now that I have all of your attentions, small introduction, guys, meet Melody. Melody, meet the guys. Melody is the first and only pure basilisk, giving her the same status as Ragnarok, and us two.

You all have your orders. Harry, Hermione, Fleur, Ginny, you each take 10 of the Black Angels and split up around the castle, Sarah will guide you to your targets.

Ivan, you take the remaining and stay here, make sure nothing gets past you and into the Great Hall." Ivan nodded curtly and started to divide his soldiers.

Turning to Melody Gabrielle continued, "Mel, will you search the dungeons, while Aurora and I spread out around the castle."

Melody nodded her massive head once before shrinking her body down to a third of her size and slithering away down the stairs towards the dungeons.

When Gabrielle turned towards the kids again, she saw on Harry's face that he wanted to ask something. "Yes Harry?"

Taking a quick peek at Ivan before answering Harry said, "Well, I was just thinking. You two and me and the girls might be immune to the basilisks' stare, but there is still their venom and Ivan and the Black Angels are not immune, isn't it much too dangerous?"

With a soft reassuring smile, Gabrielle replied, "Don't worry Harry. We have tested the EXO's against Acromantula pincers, dragon teeth, and a Manticore's stinger. We even tested them against a .50 caliber machinegun, with Hellfire rounds, at point blank range. There is no way a basilisks' fangs are getting through it. And though your armor is not as strong, you four are Parselmouths, so the venom will certainly hurt, and possibly partially paralyze you for a while, but we have an antidote on hand so don't worry about that.

As for the stare, the masks will neutralize the effect, since they aren't even indirectly looking at the eyes, but seeing them on a screen through a live camera feed. Now if there aren't any more questions, we have a job to do."

They all nodded and spread out. Harry and the girls gave each other a last kiss for goodbye, before they all left in a different direction. Each with 10 Black Angels and a pair of combat healers on their heels.

Just after Aurora and Gabrielle had likewise left, leaving Ivan and his eleven followers behind in the entrance hall, the great entrance doors opened a fraction and a hooded figure entered the hall.

"HOLD RIGHT THERE!" Ivan yelled through the hall, while aiming his weapon on the figure. The figure was startled and quickly lowered her hood, to show her face.

"I mean no harm," Narcissa Black said after lowering her hood. "I just heard about the attack from Sirius and I came to see if Draco is all right, and offer some help to Madam Pomfrey."

Ivan nodded and after quickly scanning the area for any possible threats, he removed his mask and showed Narcissa his face. "As far as I know Draco is all right, but to be sure you'd have to go to the main hall. It is sealed at the moment though, so 'Charles."

Said elf appeared immediately and after making a quick bow he said, "You called Master Ivan."

"Yes Charles," Ivan replied quickly due to a tingling feeling from his 'danger-scanner'. Please get Narcissa into the Great Hall right NOW." As he said the last word, two Angels on his right suddenly opened fire and a burst of Hellfire rounds sped from their rifles.

Charles wasted no time and without asking permission first, he grabbed Narcissa's hand and popped away while Ivan replaced his mask.

As Ivan looked up again he saw a pair of basilisks slithering out of a secret passageway hidden behind a tapestry. They were each roughly 25 feet long and hissed dangerously as the Hellfire rounds tore gaps in their thick armor-like skin.

Now with ten Black Angels and two trained combat healers/battle mages sending all kinds of hell at them, the basilisks were forced to split up and evade the barrage of bullets and curses send their way.

The soldiers likewise split up, Ivan and half the Angels focused fire on the right snake, while the others took the left one.

The Hellfire rounds did quite some damage on the basilisks, but it only proved their toughness that they kept closing in on them. When they got almost too close for rifle fire, Ivan loosened the spring blade on his right arm, so it was ready to pop out with just a small flick of his wrist.

Taking a stance in front of his soldiers, Ivan adopted a ready stance and awaited the basilisks strike. Trusting fully in the strength of his EXO, Ivan swung his left arm before him, inviting the giant serpent to strike him there.

The creature took little prodding before it struck. Baring its large fangs, the snake launched itself at Ivan's left arm, just as he hoped, and tried to sink its teeth into the arm. The titanium plate did its work flawlessly though, stopping the fangs from making even a small dent.

As soon as the snake struck, Ivan's right arm moved as well. The blade sprung out of its sheath and locked itself in place, before Ivan plunged it directly into the underside of the serpents head multiple times. Going through the maw and penetrating the brain, the stabs killed it instantly.

Turning around to the other group, he saw that they had managed to take out their serpent as well, judging by the looks of its head, it took a Hellfire round directly in the maw, tearing its head apart in its entirety.

Inside the Great Hall, Minerva and the other staff members were doing their utmost to calm down the students, as many of the younger students were just about panicking at the moment.

Just as Minerva was calming a group of first year Gryffindors, a 'POP' sounded behind her and as she turned around, wand in hand, she saw Charles had appeared behind her, accompanied by Narcissa Black.

At the same moment, loud gunfire and explosions were heard just outside the doors of the Great Hall, reinvigorating the panicked atmosphere amongst the students.

Ignoring the panic for the moment, Minerva turned to Narcissa and asked, "Mrs. Black, what are you doing here? Don't you know the school is under attack?"

"I know, but I had to see if Draco was alright." The frantic look in Narcissa's eyes was more than convincing that she spoke the truth, "I couldn't do nothing, maybe I can help Madam Pomfrey, I have some skills as a healer. I had to, to be able to survive my treatment, at Lucius' hands." Those last words were added more to herself than to Minerva, but the professor heard them anyways.

"Very well, Draco is all right, I saw him just five minutes ago in the company of Miss Greengrass and Miss Davis. They were trying to sneak out of the hall but luckily the barrier wouldn't let them through. He said that they wanted to find Harry and the girls, seeing as no one has seen them since breakfast."

Narcissa nodded in thanks but before she could search for her son, Minerva asked softly, "What is going on out there? The castle didn't give any explanation what so ever after the Great Hall was sealed."

In a whisper, so none of the students around them could hear, Narcissa replied, "The Ladies have returned with the kids and a bunch of their soldiers. They are hunting the basilisks as we speak. The gunfire you just heard was Mister Rostock and his soldiers firing on one or more of the beasts that arrived just before I was brought here by the house-elf."

At hearing the name of Ivan, Minerva's eyes lit up, as a high-ranking member of the MSS, she was one of the few outsiders notified about the existence of the Black Angels, and the name of their commander. If they were here, she had no doubt that matters would be resolved very quickly.

Harry and his squad of Black Angels were making haste towards the seventh floor, being guided by Sarah towards one of the basilisks that had made its way there after killing the two seventh year Ravenclaws.

When they arrived in the corridor Harry held up his hands and the Black Angels stopped immediately. Turning to the soldiers Harry whispered, "I'll take a look and see if I can lure it out into the open using parseltongue. Stay hidden and try to take it out with a headshot, don't shoot until you are certain you'll make a kill-shot."

The soldiers saluted and Harry turned around before carefully making it up the last few steps. Peeking around the corner he didn't see the basilisk, but since night had already fallen outside, much of the corridor was hidden in shadows.

After taking a breath, Harry stepped out of the stairwell and into the corridor. " _I know you are there,"_ he said in parseltongue. "SSShow yourssself."

About halfway down the hallway, maybe 100 feet away from him, a large shadow moved. The basilisk slithered into the light and Harry could now clearly see it. Contrary to Melody and Murinus, this snake didn't have the smooth scales he associated with snakes. The basilisk had a thick armor-like skin that looked a little like flexible stone.

" _Who are you,"_ the snake asked curiously _, "you are not my massster."_

" _Who isss your massster?"_ Harry asked curiously.

" _YOU ARE NOT MY MASSSTER."_ The snake now hissed furiously before coming at him very quickly.

Barely two yards from Harry's face, the snake suddenly stopped and looked towards the stairwell, but it was already too late. A gleaming, silver-infused hand-and-a-half sword came flashing down and cut the basilisks head clean off.

With a solid 'THUNK' the headless corpse dropped to the floor and Harry looked relieved at his savior. Lieutenant Saint-Claire pulled a rag from a pouch on her belt and carefully cleaned her sword before placing it back in the scabbard on her back. While she accepted her rifle back from one of the other soldiers she looked at Harry and said, "Are you okay Mister Potter?"

Harry nodded weakly and said, "Y.. yea, thanks to you."

She nodded and replied with a soft chuckle, "My pleasure sir, your mothers wouldn't have let us live if we allowed anything to happen to you."

Harry couldn't suppress a grin as he replied, "Yea, that sounds like something my moms would do."

Ginny was leading her squad down to the greenhouses, since Sarah said one of the snakes was hiding in greenhouse two. Once they made it to the grounds, the Dark Angels activated the night vision on their masks and Ginny lit the tip of her wand.

Carefully they made their way towards the greenhouse, aware that the beast could attack them at any moment. When they got to the greenhouse they saw that one of the large glass panels in the door had been shattered, showing the place where the basilisk had entered.

Ginny looked to the others and she knew the professional soldiers could see the nervousness on her face but she bit through it. "Okay, so we know it's in there, why don't we just toss some napalm grenades in there burn that sucker to dust?"

The sergeant in charge of the Black Angels, a woman named Nicole Taylor, put that idea down by saying, "I'm not sure that'll work, basilisk skin is tougher than dragon hide, so we have no guarantee that it will kill the beast. And besides, we have orders not to deliberately destroy any school property."

At that moment, they could hear a thrashing noise coming from inside the greenhouse and after swallowing the lump in her throat, Ginny looked at the soldiers who all nodded, before opening the door of the greenhouse.

What they saw was absolutely the last thing they expected. When Ginny pointed her wand into the greenhouse, they saw the basilisk in the process of being strangled by a truly massive Devil's Snare.

The plant and the magical beast were doing their best to destroy each other, but the plant's lack of eyes, and the snake's armored build, ensured that the two were locked in a stalemate. Quickly coming over her surprise Ginny said, "Don't hit the plant, that would free the basilisk. The plant is easy to deal with, and the snake is almost powerless while it's held in place."

The soldiers all nodded and aimed their rifles. Slowly they approached the struggle, watching carefully for any opening in the conflict that would give them the opportunity to kill the dangerous reptile.

After a few minutes, it became clear that no such opening would present itself, so Ginny decided to create one herself.

"I'm going to try and loosen the plant around the head, try to hit it in the head." After receiving confirmation from the others, she cancelled the Lumos, and cast an alternative version of the spell. Putting her school wand away, Ginny withdrew her battle wand and carefully aimed it at the plants covering the basilisk's head. Feeling a little anxious to be using her battle wand for the first time she yelled, "LUMOS SOLEM."

A tight bundle of concentrated sunlight burst forth from the tip of her wand, it lit the entire greenhouse and when it hit the Devil's Snare, the place of impact was simply burned away.

As surprised as she was, the Black Angels were not. Being used to the feats of Aurora and Gabrielle, this didn't really surprise them and as soon as the head of the snake was bared, they opened fire. Being constrained by the plant the snake had no way to evade and the Hellfire rounds tore the head apart.

Ginny moved the beam of sunlight over the plant and followed the contours of the snake so it was dropped. Once the corpse was released, half the Black Angels ran forward and pulled it away out of the plants reach.

Once it was clear, the others joined them and together they picked up the carcass while Ginny kept the Devil's Snare contained.

The soldiers carried the carcass back to the Great Hall with Ginny following behind them, using the normal Lumos spell again to check around them and make sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

Fleur was leading her squad towards the charms hallway, Professor Flitwick's classroom in particular. The beast that had been stalking Professor Flitwick and the two students was holed up in the charms classroom, according to Sarah, and it showed no intention of wanting to leave there.

They made good time and having heard about the nature of cornered animals, Fleur opted for the all-out assault. Turning to the soldiers behind her she said, "When we get there, aim for the head it's the fastest way to kill it. Don't bother with sparing the classroom, its easily fixed, just keep shooting until it stops moving."

Thinking about something Dan had mentioned she asked to the soldiers while pointing at one of the rifle mounted grenade launchers, "What kind of grenades do you have for those launchers?"

The one in charge, Sergeant Otto Holstein, replied, "We got, high explosive, Hellfire, flash bangs and armor piercing."

Fleur nodded and after thinking for a moment, she said, "Okay, load them with Hellfire and armor piercing grenades, aim for the head and once the grenades are fired keep shooting."

They immediately did as she said and as soon as they were ready, Fleur drew her own gun and nodded to Sergeant Holstein, who nodded back and led the group into the classroom.

The entire unit stormed into the room and came face to face with the basilisk waiting for them at the other side of the room. Without waiting for orders, the ten Black Angels fired their grenades and they slammed into the giant snake without mercy. Following Fleur's orders, they started firing and for nearly a minute they kept on a continues barrage, covering the room in gunpowder clouds.

When Sergeant Holstein ordered the cease fire, the smoke cleared in seconds, thanks to a large hole that had been struck in the wall leading outside. When the smoke was gone, they could see the remains of the basilisk laying in half a dozen pieces on the other side of the classroom.

Hermione was reluctantly leading her squad towards one of her favorite places in the entire school, the library. Sarah had told them that one of the snakes was hiding in the library's restricted section.

She was dreading about the damage the monster had done to her beloved library and when they reached the first-floor corridor that ran next to the library, they saw the first evidence. The doors to the library where in splinters and a single abandoned shoe was left in front of the splinters.

Turning to the squad following her she said, "Please try to avoid hitting any of the bookshelves, some of those tomes are centuries old and irreplaceable." Several of the Black Angels had to suppress a snigger as Dan's talk about his daughter's love of books was proven true.

The one in charge, Captain Eddie Frost, looked at Hermione and asked, "If you want us to spare the books, but still do our jobs, then how do you suggest we do that?"

Thinking about it for a minute Hermione's eyes fell on the swords they all carried and she got a small grin on her face. Turning back to Captain Frost she said with a glint in her eyes, "We go medieval."

When it remained quiet for a bit she explained, "You all carry swords, now I presume you know how to use them and since Gabrielle said that your EXO 's will not be penetrated by the fangs of a basilisk, you guys can fight it with swords."

If the Black Angels hadn't been wearing masks Hermione would have been faced with ten identical looks that all said the same thing, 'are you insane'?"

"Ehhh, no." was Captain Frost's only reply. "I'm sorry miss but that is not going to happen, I understand you are worried about those books, but I am not going to endanger human lives just to save some pieces of ancient paper."

He saw Hermione's downcast looks and added, "We shall try to avoid hitting the books but we will not be putting down our rifles and potentially create a more dangerous situation for ourselves, since the Ladies have ordered us to only use the swords when we have no other option."

Hermione was extremely disappointed to be hearing this, but knew it was pointless to argue against the orders of Aurora and Gabrielle.

Turning to his followers, Captain Frost said, "Here is how we're going to do it. Keep fire to a minimum and only shoot when a hit is guaranteed. Try to get close and hit it in the mouth when it is open, as that is where it is most vulnerable."

The others all saluted and followed Captain Frost into the library. Hermione followed after the Black Angels with her SILH in her hands.

When they entered the library, they saw that several bookcases had been knocked over and the trail of wreckage led towards the back, the restricted section.

Slowly making their way towards the back, the soldiers kept their rifles at the ready and their fingers on the triggers.

When they entered the restricted section, Hermione's enhanced hearing picked up a sound that sounded unnervingly like when Murinus was eating rather large prey.

When they reached the last row of bookcases her fears were proven correct. The massive reptile was in the process of devouring something that could only be a human being. Two legs were sticking out of the reptile's mouth, one still wearing a shoe, the other bare.

The only upside of this was that the serpent was virtually defenseless with its maw occupied. Turning to the girl besides him, Captain Frost said, "Well it looks like you'll get you request after all Miss Granger."

Captain Frost dropped his rifle and drawing his sword he stepped towards the giant reptile. The snake saw him coming and tried to get away, but the enhancement given by the EXO allowed Captain Frost to close the gap between him and the snake and to engage it directly.

The first blow was deflected by the stone-like skin but when he grabbed the sword in both hands and struck again, he was more successful. He cut the snake in two, inches away from the bulge that was its poor victim.

The tail end of the serpent fell lifelessly to the ground and the head part likewise dropped. However, the snake was not yet dead. Its eyes were still moving but since most of its body was gone, it couldn't do anything.

Captain Frost dropped his sword and walked back to the business end of the snake. Drawing his knife, he first stabbed out both its eyes before moving to the left corner of its maw and cutting it open with his knife. Using the knife, he cut the snake open entirely and revealed the poor victim caught in its hunger, Madam Irma Pince, the librarian.

Hermione was shocked to see her first, real-life dead body, especially by it being someone she knew.

Captain Frost gave a few orders and two of the Black Angels picked up the body of the librarian and after a third had produced a large white sheet from a pouch, they carefully wrapped the body in the sheet before picking it up again. Turning around they made their way back towards the Great Hall, bringing the victim with them.

Once Harry's squad had exited the passage between the seventh floor and the entrance hall, they saw that they were nearly the last to return. Ivan and his squad were still standing in front of the doors to the Great Hall with three dead basilisks at their feet. Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were standing in a corner and Harry immediately ran towards them and gave them each a very affectionate kiss, relieved that none of them were injured.

However, when Harry saw Hermione's face he swallowed and asked softly, "What happened Mione?"

Hermione sniffed once before she replied, "Whe… when… when we found the basilisk in the library, it was _eating_ , Madam Pince."

Harry was obviously shocked to hear this and grasped Hermione in a tight hug, which was only broken when they heard Melody returning from the dungeons.

The massive basilisk was dragging the remains of one of her lesser kindred in her mouth, which she dropped next to the other three that were placed on the floor of the Great Hall. This latest reptile had a series of massive holes in is body, showing the places where Melody's fangs had penetrated its hide.

Now the wait was only for Aurora and Gabrielle to appear, who had been scouting the rest of the castle to see if any of the monsters had escaped Sarah's search.

It took a few minutes until they too had arrived back in the entrance hall, not having found even a trace of another basilisk. As soon as they were standing amongst the others again Aurora said, "Sit-rep."

The first to speak was Ivan, "Shortly after everyone left, Narcissa Black entered through the outside doors. She heard about the attacks and wanted to find Draco, as well as offer some help to Madam Pomfrey. At nearly the same time, two basilisks arrived so I had Charles bring her into the Great Hall while we dealt with the beasts."

Nodding in acceptance of his explanation, Aurora turned to the next and said, "Lieutenant Saint-Claire your report please."

Said soldier nodded and said, "When we got to the seventh floor, Mister Potter tried to lure it out of the shadows using parseltongue, which worked but caused the basilisk to charge him. Luckily I managed to decapitate the snake before it reached Mister Potter."

Sergeant Taylor was next and said, "My squad followed Miss Weasley towards the greenhouse and once there we found the serpent in a fight with a rather aggressive variant of Devil's Snare. Miss Weasley used the Lumos Solem, to remove the plant from the basilisk's head, giving us ample opportunity to shoot its head to smithereens."

Sergeant Holstein took the word next and said, "We followed Miss Delacour towards the charms classroom, where we opted for the full-out assault method. I must admit that the classroom did not survive, but the basilisks has been destroyed as well."

Captain Frost was the last to give his report and said, "When we arrived in the restricted section of the library, we unfortunately had to discover that one more person had fallen victim to the serpents. We found the basilisk in the process of devouring the librarian, who had unfortunately fallen victim to its direct stare."

This last sentence did actually surprise Aurora and Gabrielle, as Sarah had not informed them of that.

"I did not know about that." Sarah said to the entrance hall and kind of surprised all of its current inhabitants, as most just assumed she knew everything that goes on inside the school.

"Where have you brought the body?" was Gabrielle's question after the others had gotten over the shock.

"We have given the body to the house elves, who brought it to the hospital wing where the other victims have been brought to as well."

Gabrielle nodded softly in acceptance of the answer and then she and Aurora turned their attention to Melody. "What about you Mel?"

" _I found one of thossse unworthy beassstsss hiding out in the real dungeonsss, the onesss off-limitsss for the ssstudentsss. Ssstupid thing actually tried to ssseduccce me, pathetic little vermin."_

Taking her word for it, Aurora and Gabrielle turned their attention to the doors of the Great Hall and Aurora asked, "Sarah, how is the situation in the Great Hall?"

"Students are scared, but panic has not arisen," came the reply. "Professor McGonagall and Mrs. Black have managed to calm down a considerable part of the student body."

"That's very good Sarah," was Gabrielle's reply, while she and Aurora removed a set of robes from their pouches and put them on to cover their armor.

"Charles," Aurora said softly and said elf arrived immediately. "Please go to our rooms and get some school robes for the kids."

Charles bowed and within half a minute he was back and handed a simple school robe to each of the kids, which they put on to hide their own armor.

When they were, all dressed more or less normally, Gabrielle turned to the castle and said, "Sarah, would you please remove the barrier, but make sure none of the students leave the Hall just jet, there are things out here that no-one their age should have to see."

The only reply they got was the thick blue barrier sealing the doors, slowly fade away and the doors unlocking with a loud 'CLICK'.

"Well, let's go face the music." Aurora's muttered softly before adding, "By the way, where is that Old Idiot anyway?"

The reply came from Sarah who said with a small chuckle in her voice, "I was wondering when that would come up. The old guy wasn't actually at the school when the attack happened, he's been trying to get into the wards for the last half hour or so. He went completely mental, when I let Narcissa into the wards but shot him backwards into the Black Lake when he attempted to do the same. So, he is still out there for the moment."

Most of the group burst out laughing at this and after they had quieted down again Aurora opened the doors to the Great Hall.

The soft murmuring in the hall immediately came to a halt and all eyes turned towards the entrance. A lot of the students were relieved to see Aurora and Gabrielle, but more of them, especially the ones from magical backgrounds, were uncomfortable when they saw the infamous skull masks of the Legionnaires.

Ivan and his soldiers remained behind in the entrance hall while Aurora and Gabrielle entered the Great Hall with the quartet on their heels.

Professor McGonagall had been making her way towards the doors since the moment the barrier disappeared, but since she was near the head-table, it took her a few minutes. As soon as she reached the group, Minerva said, "Oh thank Merlin you two are back."

In a softer tone, so none of the students could overhear them, "How is the situation out there?"

Equally soft Gabrielle replied, "Not good. We have hunted down and killed all 7 basilisks, but we have suffered casualties."

Minerva paled instantly and she had enough experience with their way of speech to know that she meant deadly casualties. "Who?" was all she managed to ask.

Gabrielle sighed softly before answering her question. "We have lost Patrick Stebbins and Silvia Fawcett from Ravenclaw, Cormac McLaggen from Gryffindor, Irma Pince the librarian and three of the house elves.

Six other students and one house elf have been petrified and are currently in the hospital wing, we have brought combat healers with Mandrake Restorative Draughts, amongst other things. I'll send them there after we make sure everything is okay in here."

Minerva nodded and replied, "Good, how about the castle itself? Has there been any damage to the…" she was interrupted by the arrival of Neville, Draco, Daphne and Hannah, who were soon followed by the others of their little club of friends and Narcissa.

"Thank Merlin you guys are back," Neville panted when he stood before Harry and the girls, his face was red and he and the others were obviously distressed.

"What's wrong Neville?" Harry asked worriedly, as he and the girls had picked up on Neville's worried state. Neville was unable to answer immediately, so Draco did it for him.

"It's Luna, she didn't make it to the Great Hall."

There fell a silence at those words while the six newcomers digested that news.

The first one to stir was Aurora, and to Draco's worry, he saw that her eyes had turned black before she spoke. "Then where is she?"

The only one able to reply to the ice-cold tone, was Minerva who said, "We don't know, but since we didn't know how many had fallen victim to the basilisks we had no way of knowing if anyone was missing."

"Then find out." Was the hissed reply, which caused Minerva to hurriedly wave her wand and a long scroll of parchment appeared with the location of every intelligent, living being living in Hogwarts.

She quickly scanned the scroll until she swallowed and looked up from it and towards the two pairs of burning black eyes before her. "It says, 'location unknown', for both her and… Professor Lockhart."

That last name had a rather disturbing effect. Instead of only Aurora and Gabrielle, the eyes of all six in front of her turned to black fire and Harry roared, "I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM!" Before he and the girls ran off, with Aurora and Gabrielle on their heels, all with an identical murderous expression on their faces.

The next to move was Ivan who had been standing directly behind Aurora and Gabrielle and so had heard everything that had happened. He hurried to Minerva and said on a no-nonsense tone, "Evacuate the school _, now._ Trust me when I say, you have no idea what could happen."

"He is right Professor McGonagall," Sarah interjected, speaking directly to Minerva, "All six of them are currently in a mentally unstable mindset. Should Lockhart be doing what they fear he is doing, in their anger they can pose a far larger threat than anything you could think of. The wisest thing to do is to order the immediate evacuation."

This proved to be enough for Minerva and she began giving orders to the other teachers and staff to start evacuating everyone. She sent house elves to the hospital wing to get all of the victims to safety.

In the meantime, Ivan and his soldiers followed Aurora and Gabrielle, utilizing the enhancements provided by their EXO's to catch up with them, which they did so two hallways before they reached the DADA classroom.

They followed them until they reached the classroom but unfortunately, no one was there. Gabrielle pulled the nearest, nauseatingly lilac robe, towards her and held it in front of the quartet. "Sniff him out."

She did not have to repeat herself as all four had already transformed and the four giant wolves were inhaling the scent of the lilac robe. It took less than a minute for Harry to catch the scent and with a blood-chilling howl, he and the other three ran off chasing the trail, with the others close on their heels.

For several minutes, they followed the four Fenrirs, back to the entrance hall where evacuations were nearly complete. They hurried down towards the dungeons, not noticing the lone straggler that went to follow after them, instead of leaving the castle.

The quartet led them towards the dungeons, into the lower levels, the very same in which Melody had killed the seventh basilisk. Now Ivan realized that that particular beast was probably some kind of guard.

The Fenrirs stopped in front of a door, which was made of thick wood with iron reinforcements. Harry was still in front and pressed his nose against the crack between the floor and the door and growled softly.

The other three stepped clear of the door and Harry took a running start before he crashed into the door. It was splintered by the sheer brute force of the impact and the four wolves entered the room beyond the door, immediately followed by Aurora and Gabrielle.

XXX WARNING XXX DISTURBING CONTENT AHEAD XXX

What they saw chilled the blood in their veins. The room was occupied by three people. Sitting on a chair next to a low table was a young man, he was maybe 16 years old, had black hair and a cold, emotionless expression on his pale face. He was looking with intense concentration on what the other two people were doing, which was the most disturbing thing about the whole situation.

Laying on the table was a struggling, crying and obviously hurting Luna. She was naked and so was the last person in the room. Lockhart was standing between Luna's legs and held his hands around her throat, using them to slowly choke the life out of her, while he kept pounding himself into the crying girl.

The two men were so focused on what Lockhart was doing that they hadn't noticed the door being blown to splinters and they could hear the young man speaking. "Just a little more my servant, the ritual is nearly complete, I can feel the last vestiges of life draining from her body. Just a few more minutes and Lord Voldemort shall be restored."

"Uhh… Uhh.. Yes… Master…" Lockhart panted, while he tightened the choke-hold around Luna's neck, all the while still keeping up a steady rhythm.

The four wolves each had the hairs standing on end all over their bodies and a low growl coming from Harry's throat was the only warning Lockhart got. Quickly followed by the girls, Harry launched himself at Lockhart's back and sank his jaws deeply into the man's neck.

The taste of fresh blood only served to increase his bloodlust and with a jerk of his head, Lockhart landed on the ground where it was now his turn to cry in pain.

The young version of Voldemort rose from his chair and grabbed the wand that was laying on the table, next to a small black diary. Before he could aim his wand however, Ivan sprung into action. He had followed directly behind Aurora and Gabrielle and he threw himself at Voldemort, grabbing him by the neck and firing several Hellfire rounds into his head from point-blank range.

Harry and the girls were clawing and ripping at Lockhart's flesh, ignoring the cries of the man and only focusing on tearing him apart as painfully as possible. All four of them had completely surrendered to their animal instincts and they were tearing at the body with primordial rage.

Their heads and front legs were covered in warm, startlingly red, blood, as they each tore at one of Lockhart's limbs. With a sickening sound, Harry tore off his left arm and clawed the nails of his front paw into Lockhart's chest, leaving behind four very deep cuts that spurted blood.

Nearly at the same time Hermione and Ginny tore off his legs, leaving Fleur tearing at the remaining arm. She held it firmly between her jaws until Harry had dropped the other arm and sunk his very sharp teeth into Lockhart's shoulder. This gave Fleur the opportunity to remove the last remaining limb which she did without a second thought.

The four wolves once again gathered around the remains of Lockhart's body and sunk their teeth into his torso, tearing him up further, not caring that the man had already died of blood loss.

The butchery was only stopped when the kids were hit with a very powerful wave of magical force and Sarah's voice which echoed throughout the dungeon. "THAT IS ENOUGH!" They were forced back into their human forms by the strength of the blow and Sarah continued on a normal volume, but still with a hint of panic clearly noticeable.

"Listen very closely. Something is wrong with your mothers Harry, you four need to get that poor girl out of here and then get out yourselves as well. Listen to Ivan, he knows what to do."

As soon as Sarah had mentioned Aurora and Gabrielle the quartet immediately turned towards where the two women were still standing and they saw something they had never seen before. Both of their faces were torn in a look of fear and pain, and they hadn't moved an inch since they had entered the dungeon.

That was not the most worrisome though, the black fire that had shone in their eyes was slowly spreading over their heads and making its way downwards, slowly covering their entire bodies. The kids were once again pulled from their thoughts, but this time by Ivan, who had not wasted any time once he had seen Aurora and Gabrielle's condition.

He had immediately pulled a large blanket from a pouch on his belt and wrapped it tightly around Luna's body before he picked her up and quickly made his way towards the quartet. The small black book he had found on the table he had put into the pouch, deciding to inspect it later, if there would be a later.

He hurriedly urged the kids out of the dungeon and as soon as everyone was out, a thick blue barrier sealed the room and judging by the sounds, it was just in time. They could hear a sound as if a wind was blowing through the dungeon but they could see that the black fire had completely covered Aurora and Gabrielle. It had exploded outwards with an incredible force and destroyed everything in its path until it hit the barrier.

Once they were back in the hallway Ivan took a single look around the group of soldiers that still stood there. He noticed that several of them had removed their masks and were staring in awe at what was happening inside the dungeon. His eyes fell on one extra figure he had not noticed before and he quickly marched towards it, holding Luna in his arms and with the quartet on his heels.

He stopped before Narcissa Black and removed his own mask before he looked Narcissa in the eyes. "I believe you know better than any of us what she needs right now. Please get her to safety and do for her what you can."

He carefully handed Luna to Narcissa who took her into her arms and said, "Dobby, I need you."

Said elf appeared with a pop and after her made a bow Narcissa said, "Dobby, please bring us to Potter Manor."

The elf nodded quickly and grabbed Narcissa's hand before he popped them away to safety.

As soon as they were gone Ivan put his mask back on and contacted Avalon.

" _Black Leader for Arthur, please answer Anderson."_

" _This is Anderson, what is going on there Ivan, did you…"_

" _No time for that sir, we have bigger problems. We have a code black."_

Author's note:

Please don't burn me for what happened to Luna, I feel terrible for having her endure that but it will all work out in the end. Next chapter will explain a whole lot of things so please bear with me. I hope I'll be able to post the next chapter a bit quicker as I'm putting my focus on finishing this part before I'll continue with the other story.

Until next time,

Medieval Maniak.


	25. Chapter 25

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 24

" _Black Leader for Arthur, please answer Anderson."_

" _This is Anderson, what is going on there Ivan, did you…"_

" _No time for that sir, we have bigger problems. We have a code black."_

It was silent for a short while before Anderson replied.

" _I'm on my way, get everyone out of there as soon as possible, I want only you and the kids to stay. Tell Sarah to use the kids' magical energy if she needs it, but she has to keep them contained at any cost, until I get there."_

" _Understood, Black Leader over and out."_

Ivan removed his mask again and turned to the 49 Black Angels and 10 combat healers that were waiting for them. "New orders from HQ, everyone except Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny, get the hell out of here. Anderson ordered a complete evacuation of all Legion forces, except the five of us."

The men and women immediately saluted him and took off in a hurry, back towards the entrance hall, while Ivan turned to the kids. "Okay listen up, there is only one person in the world who can answer the questions you four undoubtedly have and that is Anderson."

He interrupted Harry, who obviously wanted to ask something and added, "This is a level of secrecy that I have no clearance for. Dan hasn't got clearance for it, not even the Queen knows the full story, so please don't ask." The kids nodded and together they waited for Anderson to arrive.

After a few minutes, Sarah spoke again and to their surprise, and concern, everyone could clearly hear the strain in her voice. "I… ca-… can't…hold… them… much… lon-… longer. They… are… drai-… draining… my… power."

Ivan turned to the kids and prevented them from asking anything by saying, "Don't ask. I need you four to each place one of your hands directly on the barrier, your magical power will help Sarah to hold it up until Anderson arrives."

They did as he asked and as soon as they did, the barrier turned from shimmering to clear, solid blue, as if they were looking through a wall made of pure sapphire. What they saw wasn't exactly better than not being able to see anything at all.

The entire dungeon was filled with black fire and they had to strain their eyes to be able to catch a glimpse of Aurora and Gabrielle in the inferno. Even with their fire-resistance, the heat coming from the barrier was clearly noticeable and judging by what little they could see, it was hot enough to start melting the walls.

They were pulled away from staring into the burning dungeon by the sound of armored boots approaching them in a hurry. Being careful to keep their hands on the barrier, the kids and Ivan all looked towards the sound hoping to see Anderson with reinforcements or just about anything that might help them.

Anderson came running towards them, alone and dressed in what looked like an EXO suit. Unlike the Mark 7 Spartans, this suit was painted in black with patterns of runes in red and blue. The pattern made it difficult to discern its shape, but it appeared to be somewhat of a different design than a Mark 7 EXO.

As soon as he arrived, Anderson snapped his fingers and said, "Ivan, you have your orders, evacuate the castle."

Not showing his disappointment at being dismissed, Ivan saluted and ran off on a hurry. As soon as he was gone, Anderson turned to the kids and said, "Get your hands off of that barrier kids, I got this." As soon as he finished he reached behind his back and grabbed what looked to be a scepter made of solid diamond.

To the amazement of the kids, the scepter was burning. As soon as he grasped it, the scepter ignited itself with pure golden flames. Anderson walked straight towards the barrier, not in the least bothered by the burning object he held in his hand and he slammed it straight into the barrier, turning it from blue to bright gold.

As the kids were staring in awe at what Anderson was doing, Sarah was less distracted. "What kind of item did you use Commander? The barrier has gone entirely self-sufficient."

"I'm afraid that's a bit above your security clearance, sis," Anderson's replied with a pseudo-smile.

"SIS!?" the quartet exclaimed as one.

"Long story, we'll get to that later. For now, I need you four to listen to me, that scepter will contain them for exactly one hour. After which the barrier will disappear and Hogwarts, along with everything else within a radius of 25 miles will be destroyed."

The quartet looked at him with disbelief in their eyes and after letting out a sigh Anderson said softly, "Sit down kids, we have a lot to talk about."

After they had sat down Anderson opened one of his pouches and retrieved a large, square, flat wooden box. He sat the box down on the ground and opened it to reveal a pensieve. Placing the pensieve on top of the box, Anderson looked at each of the children in front of him and said, "What I am about to tell you is the best kept secret in the world, I will require a magical oath from each of you not to even talk about it, before I continue."

They quickly made the required oath and once they were done, Anderson pointed towards the pensieve. "What you will see in here will be very hard to believe and accept for you four, but you have my word, it is all true.

Since you four have discovered what and who Aurora and Gabrielle exactly are, what is the thing that seemed most dangerous about them?"

After a short silence, it was Hermione who answered, "Their emotions are a bit unhinged sometimes and when they are angry they are very unpredictable."

"That is partially correct." Anderson replied and after a short hesitation, he added, "The Legion and the Crown have always said that the Dark Angels are the greatest protection of the non-magical world, but they are also one of its greatest threats. Happiness, love, hate, anger, these are all emotions they can deal with. What they are going through now is something a whole lot more dangerous; pain and above all, fear."

"What could they possibly be afraid of," Fleur asked softly with a quick look towards the barrier.

"What they fear, is the past and what happened. I would like you to tell me what happened before they started 'burning'?"

Harry took that job upon himself and he said, "When we arrived in the dungeon we found that blonde arse-wipe raping Luna."

Anderson paled noticeably before he said, "I was afraid of that."

"What do you mean sir?" Ginny asked after a short silence.

"Let me show you what happened the previous time they had a black-out caused by such an act." He breathed in calmly before he put a finger into the pensieve, just like when Aurora and Gabrielle were using a pensieve. "Dive in."

The kids did exactly that and one-by-one they dove into the memory. When they arrived, they landed in what could only be described as a post apocalyptic disaster area. All around them were destroyed buildings, burning ruins scattered the landscape as far as they could see. When they turned around they saw Anderson standing behind them with a sad expression on his face.

"This way," he said softly before leading them towards one of the flatter area's around them. "This is the aftermath of what would become known as the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Aurora and Gabrielle were here on holiday, their guide was a young local woman, whom they had became rather fond of.

After a few weeks, they had an appointment to visit the new Lisbon opera house. When their guide didn't show up to bring them there, they grew worried and when they went to her house, they saw the door had been forced open."

They had arrived at what appeared to be the epicenter of the disaster. A crater the size of a football stadium and at the bottom they could see a trio of figures. Even from the distance they were standing, they could clearly recognize Aurora and Gabrielle by their hair. The third figure was most likely Anderson, though they had no idea how it was possible that he was there.

They all turned towards the man standing before them and Ginny asked softly, "What happened after they found their guide?"

Anderson looked her sadly in the eyes and said, "They broke, just as what happened now, when they saw your friend being raped."

"So…" Harry had to swallow before he could continue, "So you mean that my mothers caused this?"

Anderson nodded and replied, "Yes kids, this is what could happen when Aurora and Gabrielle have an episode. When they arrived in the city, Lisbon had a population of two hundred thousand people, when they left more than fifty thousand of them were dead."

The kids all turned ashen-faced and Anderson pulled them out of the scene and back to the dungeons of Hogwarts.

"But… I don't get it." Harry started, "As terrible as it is what happened to Luna, why does it cause such a reaction with them?"

Anderson blinked a few times before he sighed again and asked softly, "What have they told you about how they became the Dark Angels?"

"Well…," began Hermione, but it was Ginny who finished.

"They said that they were captured by the soldiers of Mordred and during their captivity they were injured to such a degree that they nearly died."

"Yea," finished Fleur, "and then Merlin called for some dragon to help him and the dragon changed them to what they are now."

"That is correct, but it is far from everything. What I am about to show you is going to be very, very disturbing for you to see, but it has to be done." He pointed to the pensieve again before continuing, "What you are about to see, is what they have shown me when they told me and Sarah about it." Seeing their faces, he quickly added, "And yes, I'll tell you about me and Sarah, but later, this is more important."

The kids nodded and as they had picked up on Anderson's seriousness, they all carried the same serious expression as Anderson.

Anderson placed his finger into the pensieve and after a short hesitation, the quartet shared a look before they likewise placed their fingers into the pensieve and closed their eyes.

When they opened their eyes again they saw what could only be a medieval military encampment.

Anderson led them towards a large pavilion in the centre of the camp, while he asked, "Have they told you about the prophecy concerning them?"

They all shook their heads in an identical move and Anderson recited the words of the prophecy that had been send to Merlin all those centuries ago.

" _Born in blood and darkness deep,_  
 _united by death but joint in sleep._

 _Those will become two warriors free,_  
 _looking frail but mighty they be._

 _Forged in pain and darkest deed,_  
 _they'll be reborn in dragon's heat._

 _Born as maids they will be known,_  
 _As the guardians of King Arthurs Throne."_

They looked a bit confused after hearing this but Anderson pointed them at the relevant part. "Focus on the third part, ' _Forged in pain and darkest deed',_ what do you think it means?"

Before the kids had the chance to think about it, they arrived at the pavilion and were just in time to see two familiar and unconscious young women being dragged into the pavilion before them.

Anderson led them into the big tent, walking straight through one of the side panels, and they saw Aurora and Gabrielle being thrown on the floor. They landed before the feet of a heavy-set man with thick black hair and an aristocratically trimmed short beard.

"That is Mordred," Anderson explained shortly, "the nephew of King Arthur." The man on the throne waved his hand and two buckets of water were throw over their heads, causing Aurora and Gabrielle to wake up.

They looked around them with a bewildered look until their eyes fell on Mordred who looked at them with a dark grin and said, "So, it would appear that Merlin's daughter has graced us with a visit."

All the other men around the tent began laughing and one of them said, "This is great, my Lord, with his daughter in our hands Merlin will have no choice but to surrender to us."

Mordred chuckled darkly before he said, "No gentlemen, Merlin will not surrender, not even now that we have his daughter and whoever the hell the other one is. They are of no use to us, give them to my personal guards and tell them to enjoy 'Merlin's gift'. Use them in any way you want but don't kill them yet, I'll do that myself."

The kids followed the scene with horror written on their faces as they saw and heard Aurora and Gabrielle begging for mercy while they were dragged away by four large men, all with the same lusting looks on their faces.

Once they had been dragged out of the tent, Anderson froze the memory and the kids turned towards him. They didn't even have to ask the question, for Anderson understood what they wanted to ask. He sadly nodded his head and said softly, "Yes. What comes next is…, you don't have to see the rest, as you know what happens next. You have seen their scars, more than 95 % of those were caused in the next five days."

"I… I don't want to see the rest," Harry began and after sharing a look with each of the girls he continued, "None of us _want_ to see the rest, but we have to be strong. If we are to truly understand their pain, we have to see what hell they went through." The girls all nodded sadly and Anderson bowed his head slightly in understanding, Aurora and Gabrielle had told him that this would be their decision if this situation would ever arise.

"Follow me then," was all he had to say before the kids followed him out of the pavilion and towards a smaller tent that was placed next to the pavilion. He unfroze the memory again and they followed the struggling forms of Aurora and Gabrielle as they were dragged into the second tent.

Once inside, the nightmare began.

XXX WARNING XXX DISTURBING CONTENT AHEAD XXX

They watched as the armor was ripped from their bodies, their clothes torn to shreds and all the while the twenty-some men were laughing at their despair. The tears were running over their faces as rough hands were squeezing their breasts, filthy teeth bit their skin while men were kissing them lustfully.

When one of the men pulled Gabrielle's hair backwards to smell it, she threw her head after it and head butted the man, breaking his nose and causing a stream of blood to flow into her hair. Cursing with anger the man swung his fist at Gabrielle and hit her on the side of the head, opening a gash on her cheek and giving her a black eye. This caused Aurora to try and jump the man to avenge her, but she was pulled back by the men holding her and while they laughed, one of the men pulled out a whip and said to his comrades, "Hold them good boys, I'm gonne teach them a little lesson in obedience."

All four had to bite through their tears as they watched the whip land, again, and again, and again. About halfway through, one of the other men said, "Wait up Captain, you should try this one." He handed the man with the whip a different kind of instrument. This one had nine separate tails on a handle, with each tail having several thorns braided into them towards the tip.

The man with the whip smiled evilly and gladly swapped the whip for the cat o' nine tails. After giving his new torture device a few test swings, the man turned towards the two crying and already bleeding figures at his feet and said, "Get them up boys, it's no fun if they're laying down."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle were hoisted up and tied to one of the support beams that held the tent up. Now that they were standing up, the man was able to use his cat and with a vicious strike he hit Aurora's back. She cried out in pain as the thorns tore open even more of her skin before the man turned his attention on Gabrielle.

XXX END OF WARNING XXX

From here on the scenes started to shift faster, the unending rape, a man with knives, a dark wizard using Fiendfyre. The four kids had tears running over their cheeks while they watched, hating what they saw but unable to look away.

They watched until they saw the man in charge storm into the tent, draw his sword and stabbed first Gabrielle and then Aurora, before slashing Gabrielle's face.

They saw as the men quickly packed their things and left in a hurry. They saw how Aurora and Gabrielle crawled towards each other, bleeding, in pain, and near death. They watched how they huddled together, naked, abused, and afraid. They saw them close their eyes and wait, longing for the sweet relief and the end of their suffering that came with death.

At this Harry had seen enough, he turned away from the scene before them. "I've seen enough." He said and followed by the girls he jumped up and left the memory.

As soon as they were back in the dungeons, Harry stood up and without waiting for the others, or paying attention to Anderson who was talking to the girls, he walked towards the barrier. He dropped his wands, holstered SILH and knife, before closing his eyes and focusing on the pain he felt in his heart, he put his hand on the barrier and walked straight through it.

Outside the barrier, the girls had watched in shock as Harry walked straight through the golden wall of flames and disappeared from sight. Their shock lasted little more than a second before they all rushed towards the barrier as well and dropped their own weapons, before they walked through it one-by-one and followed Harry.

"You think they have a chance Sarah?" Anderson asked softly.

"I don't know brother, if anyone has a chance its them, but it's not a big one. You did the right thing by-the-way."

"What do you mean?"

"Showing them what happened. It was terrible, but necessary. All four of them, but especially Harry, they are so full of love and hope. And the only chance they have is if they manage to use that power and get through to them."

"I hope you're right," Anderson muttered softly, "If they fail, the world is doomed."

As Harry stepped through the barrier he was instantly hit by the intense heat and the black flames that caused it. He could feel his clothes turn to ashes on his body and his armor getting so hot it melted, falling down in clumps and pieces.

Focusing his look on the two women in front of him, Harry prepared to make his way towards them when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny standing behind him. The girls were dressed exactly like him, as in not at all, but it didn't even register with him.

Hermione lifted her hand from his shoulder towards his cheek and used it to press his head against her own. _"You don't have to do this alone Harry, we're a family and when it's hard, we do it together."_ The fact that Harry could hear her words in his head didn't surprise him as much as it should have.

Fleur stepped to his right and pressed her head against theirs and she also said telepathically, _"We stand together, in light and darkness, when we needed them, Aurora and Gabrielle were always there for us, now we have to be there for them."_

Ginny added her head a fraction of a second after Fleur and she added, " _When I was hurt, they saved_ _me_ _._ _When_ _Fleur was hurt, they saved_ _her_ _._ _Now_ _they are hurting, and it is our turn to save them. Remember what mom said, '_ _When_ _we fight alone, our power is great, but when we stand united, it is_ _immense_ _,' we can do this. We have to do this."_

As they were standing there, a small group amidst the raging firestorm, they felt something new come over them. They felt connected in a way they had never felt before and when they released the others, they all turned toward Aurora and Gabrielle with a single purpose on their minds.

Still holding hands, the four kids set their first steps towards the centre of the firestorm. The closer they got, the harder it became to move. Their skin, being resistant to dragonfire, was blistering from the volcanic temperatures around them.

It took them a couple of minutes to walk the less than 30 feet to where Aurora and Gabrielle were now sitting on their knees.

When they finally reached the two women, they knelt down around them and did nothing more than take their hands and press them against their own hearts. They pressed their heads against those of Aurora and Gabrielle and just as they themselves did a few minutes ago, they 'connected' to them.

As soon as they felt their minds, they were nearly overwhelmed by the amount of pain and fear that had taken control of their entire being. All four shored up their mental defenses, using the techniques Gabrielle had taught them, and prepared for their move.

Harry was the first, reaching out with his mind he dove deep into Aurora's mind, clearly sensing the connection she and Gabrielle shared, and started pouring out his own emotions of love and hope. He was soon followed by the girls who likewise started to broadcast their own positive emotions in a hope to have them replace the pain and fear running rampant in the minds of Aurora and Gabrielle.

They sent memories along with the feelings, memories of happy times and moments shared between their family.

After a few minutes, they could sense a small change in Aurora and Gabrielle's minds, slowly but steadily, the fear was receding. It took five minutes until the raging firestorm started to lessen around them and five more before it had receded back into Aurora and Gabrielle.

Finally, after spending nearly fifteen minutes in the dungeon, the kids felt Aurora and Gabrielle move. The two adults slumped down onto the ground with the kids on top of them, all of them were completely exhausted.

Outside of the dungeon Anderson was watching closely, or as close as he could through the barrier, and Sarah was likewise keeping an eye on the goings-on. "It's working Arthur, it looks like they're succeeding. How much longer will the barrier hold them?"

Anderson raised his left arm and opened a small panel in the titanium plating. It revealed a small touch screen which was automatically activated upon opening. He made a few calculations using the scanners Boltrock had installed in his suit before turning back to his sister. "Fifteen minutes max, but the scanners are indicating that the energy-output is decreasing so it'll hold long enough."

"Good."

And indeed, barely ten minutes later the barrier disintegrated and the scepter fell on the ground, not longer burning, where it was picked up by Anderson who then replaced it on his back.

When he looked into the dungeon, he saw Aurora and Gabrielle laying on the floor with the four kids laying on top of them. At first, he was surprised to see that the four kids were completely naked but then his eye fell on half a dozen small puddles of molten metal and he realized that their clothes had burned away in the intense heat.

Raising his voice Anderson said, "Poppy, Daisy, Rosy."

The trio of Potter elves appeared before him and Daisy said, "Yous called Master Anderson?"

Anderson nodded and pointed to the group in the dungeon. "Please bring them to Potter Manor, care for their wounds and keep them asleep. I will be along the Manor as soon as I can, after I take care of business here."

The trio of elves looked wide-eyed at their master and mistresses and Rosy asked, "What happened to them Master Anderson?"

Anderson gave them a sad smile and said, "I will explain later, but please just take them out of here, okay?"

The elves nodded and hurried over to the small group. They each took the hands of two of them before popping away.

Anderson let out a heavy sigh before he entered the dungeon and inspected the damage done to the room. The walls had melted to a significant degree and the floor above them was visible through the none-existent ceiling. "How bad is the structural damage Sarah? Is your foundation in anyway damaged?"

Sarah took a few moments to scan her internal structure before answering. "Minimal, the barrier took care of most of the damage and only this floor and the one above have been damaged. In addition to the damage to the rest of the castle that was caused by the basilisks, it'll probably take me and the house elves about a week, maybe two weeks to get everything back in order."

Anderson nodded and thought about the situation for a minute before reaching a decision. "Get to work then, I'll inform Minerva about the situation and have her send the students home for now. Can you please get the house elves to pack the belongings of all the students and have them brought to the train station?"

"Of course," was Sarah's reply, "I'll get to it right away. Good luck on your end brother."

Anderson smiled softly and said, "Good luck to you as well sis, I'll see you next time." With that goodbye said, Anderson made his way back to the entrance hall where he put on his own mask for the second time in quite a while. Like with those of Aurora and Gabrielle, his mask was different than those of the normal Legionnaires. It showed a white skull like the others but the eye sockets and the nasal cavities were painted the same blood-red color as those of the Ladies.

He opened the gates and walked into the darkness of the late evening. Towards the edge of the outer wards, which shone with a soft light, he could see quite a crowd gathered waiting for any information that would be given.

" _Arthur for Black Leader."_

" _Black Leader here, go ahead Arthur."_

" _What is your current location Ivan?"_

" _Near the road from the gates sir, along with most of the teachers and staff."_

" _I'm on my way, please get McGonagall near you, I need to speak with her."_

" _Yes sir, and what about the Headmaster? The old man has gotten rather agitated at being left out of everything."_

Anderson let out a sigh at that and muttered, 'stupid old meddler'. Before he answered Ivan's question.

" _Get him as well, I'll deal with him myself."_

" _Yes sir, Black_ _Leader_ _over and out."_

Muttering softly under his breath, Anderson made his way towards the gates and after five minutes he reached the large walls of the castle, which were 500 feet inwards from the outer wards.

Walking through the open gate in the walls, Anderson used the advanced optics of his mask to search the crowd around the road until he saw the distinctive figure of Ivan standing amidst his soldiers with two familiar looking pointed hats very close by, one black with a crooked point and the other purple with silver stars.

As soon as he reached the wards, Anderson made a show of stretching out his right hand before quickly balling it into a fist. As soon as his fist was complete, Sarah dropped the war-wards and the great dome that covered the castle disappeared, shocking most spectators and causing the nearest witches and wizards to back away. This also had the effect that the area was no longer illuminated by the wards, so many of the witches and wizards around them lit the tips of their wands.

Anderson marched directly up to Ivan who stood on the road with his soldiers around him and the Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore before him.

As soon as Anderson stopped before them, Ivan and his soldiers saluted him and McGonagall bowed slightly before him. After Ivan pressed the muzzle of his rifle into his back, Dumbledore likewise made a small bow. The look on his face belied the rage he felt at being forced to bow for someone who he regarded as nothing more than a murderer.

Anderson didn't give a second glance to Dumbledore before he directed his words at McGonagall. "Professor McGonagall, Lady Hogwarts has informed me that repairs to the castle will take approximately two weeks, I suggest you send the students home for the time being. She has given the house elves orders to pack the students' belongings and have them transported to the train station."

McGonagall made a slight bow again before saying, "Of course my Lord, I'll see to it at once. I'll have the parents informed that their children will be arriving tomorrow morning. Seeing as it is already very late, I'll have the train changed to accommodate sleeping quarters."

"You do that Professor, in the meantime, the teachers and staff will also have to find different accommodations as I'm locking down the castle until we can get to the bottom of the current situation. I want to know exactly how it is possible that someone smuggled no less than 7 basilisks into the school under the crooked nose of your headmaster." As he said those last words he looked at said headmaster, who swallowed softly under the stare of the blood-eyed skull on Anderson's mask.

"Yes my Lord," was McGonagall's reply while she was inwardly grinning at the way Anderson put Dumbledore in his place. His reputation might be less violent than that of the Dark Angels, but every witch and wizard old enough to remember the First Wizarding War knew of the commander of the Shadow Legion.

Turning to Ivan, Anderson addressed his own soldiers, "Major, get your troops back to HQ, I'll meet you there later."

Ivan nodded and after they saluted Anderson, they each activated the goblin-made, reusable-portkey, that was attached to their EXO's in the form of a covered button on their belts.

As the Black Angels were leaving, Anderson turned his full attention to Dumbledore and said, "Melody will remain to patrol the castle and make sure no one enters it until we have completed our survey of the castle. Make no mistake, if she catches you, she will not hesitate to attack you."

He turned back to McGonagall and said, "You know how to contact me if you have any questions Professor." After McGonagall bowed again in acknowledgement, Anderson slammed the portkey on his belt and was whisked away, back to Avalon.

As soon as he arrived, Anderson removed his mask and hung it on his belt before he said, "Charles." And said elf appeared with a soft 'pop'. "Please take me to Potter Manor." Charles bowed and grabbed Anderson's hand before popping them to the Manor.

When they arrived, Anderson turned to the elf besides him and said, "Thank you Charles, where have the girls brought them?"

"They are in their beds sir, all of them were exhausted and after we cleaned and bound their burns, they never woke but turned to deep sleep. Mrs. Black has also put Miss Lovegood to bed after seeing to her injuries and she gave her a dreamless sleep potion to ensure that she would sleep well. She is sleeping in Mistress Hermione's old room."

"Very good Charles, where is Mrs. Black now?"

"In the kitchens, she helped us with cleaning the wounds of Master and the Mistresses."

"Thank you Charles, that was all."

Charles bowed again and popped away while Anderson made his way towards the kitchen where he found Dan, Emma, Narcissa, Sirius, and Ilona. As soon as Anderson entered the kitchen the group at the table sprung up and bombarded him with questions.

Anderson raised his hands and once the others had calmed down, he said, "I know about as much as you do, and most of what I do know, I can't tell you. We'll just have to wait until they wake up, which could be a while as I believe that each of the kids is suffering from magical exhaustion."

Narcissa nodded in agreement when he looked at her and she said, "That is correct, I did a check-up on them and they are all showing signs of magical exhaustion, though they are likewise showing signs of a greatly enhanced recovery rate, so I expect them to wake up sometime in the morning.

The ladies however, I have no idea when, or even if, they will awake, as they seem to be in something akin to a comatose state." The others were shocked to hear this as they had always seen Aurora and Gabrielle as something akin to demigods, nearly invincible and all-powerful.

Anderson was the only one not too worried and he said, "I wouldn't worry about them too much, they will wake up sometime tomorrow. They have the same as the kids, magical exhaustion, but since their magic is completely different from that of all other magic users, it manifests itself in other ways. I suggest you all head for bed as there is little to nothing any of you can do."

Turning to Narcissa he said, "If you want, you can have Dobby get Draco from Hogwarts, as the train will be leaving shortly to bring all students back home. There are plenty of spare bedrooms on the third floor for you and Draco to choose from."

Narcissa bowed her head and replied, "Thank you my Lord."

With a soft smile, Anderson replied, "No need for that, just call me Anderson."

Narcissa nodded again and left the kitchen to call for Dobby to get her son from Hogwarts.

When she had left, Anderson turned to the remaining people in the kitchen and his face turned serious again. "No one says anything to either Mrs. Black or her son, without my say-so. They are not Legion- or MSS personnel and have no security clearance whatsoever. Until Aurora and Gabrielle wake up, you are not to talk about anything of consequence whenever they can overhear you. Understood?"

They all agreed and his expression softened again. "Good, in that case, I'll return to Avalon. Colonel Granger, contact me the moment the first of them wakes up."

Dan nodded his head and said, "Yes sir, we'll see you in the morning."

After saying goodbye to the others Anderson left the kitchen and returned to Avalon, leaving the rest to find their own beds for the night.

The next morning Harry woke up with a massive headache wracking his mind. As he sat up, groaning from the headache, his movements woke up the girls who were lying on either side of him.

All three girls had an equally splitting headache as Harry himself had and as they were bemoaning said headache, Charles popped into their room and said, "Master Anderson said you would be having a headache, so I have brought you something to cure that, compliments of Mrs. Black." He handed them each a small vial with a aquamarine-colored fluid, which they quickly drank, causing their headaches to vanish almost instantaneously.

Now that they were able to think clearly again the first thought that Harry was, "Where are my mothers? Are they okay?"

Charles nodded and replied, "They are all right Master Harry. They are sleeping, just as you were, but they need a little more time to recover. You can visit Miss Lovegood if you want, she is sleeping in Mistress Hermione's old room. She is expected to wake up as well soon."

As soon as Charles mentioned Luna's name, all four turned worried again and Fleur asked softly, "How is she doing?"

Charles' face fell as well and he said hesitantly, "The bodily harm she suffered has been mostly healed, but we don't know how her mind will handle it until she wakes up."

That was enough for the quartet, they jumped out of bed and after quickly putting their bathrobes over their pajama's, they hurried to the room next door.

Hermione carefully opened the door of the room they hadn't used for nearly a year. They found Luna lying in the large bed with a neutral expression, caused by the dreamless sleep potion, on her face.

While Harry, Fleur, and Ginny went to the bed, Hermione walked towards the window and opened the curtains. The sun shone through the window and fell upon the sleeping figure of Luna. Now that she was properly visible, they could see several bruises on Luna's face and her neck was bluish/purple from where Lockhart had tried to choke her.

The kids turned to Charles and Ginny asked, "You said that they had healed her."

"And they have," Charles replied, "She had several more dangerous injuries that have been healed. Mrs. Black thought it unwise to use to much magic in her recovery, she was drained of most of her live-force and her recovery will not be a swift one."

At that moment, Luna stirred in the bed and the quartet hurried to be at Luna's side when she woke up. While they were gathered around the bed, Charles popped away softly to warn Anderson that the kids had woken up.

Luna slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the faces of Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny, who were all gathered around her bed and each carried a slightly worried look on their faces.

"H… hey guys," Luna said softly, her throat feeling very sore and her voice sounding raw and hoarse.

"Hey Luna." Ginny replied equally soft. "How are you feeling."

Luna didn't answer but shut her eyes tightly again and curled herself up beneath the blankets while the tears were streaming down her face. Ginny and Fleur sat down on the bed on each side of Luna and softly pried the blankets loose, resulting in Luna clamping herself to Ginny's side while Fleur was softly stroking Luna's hair.

Harry and Hermione were standing on the side of the bed, feeling a little useless, until Hermione turned to Harry and said softly, "I feel so useless, I want to do something for her but I don't know what. As much as I want to say how terrible it is what happened to her, I can't, because it wasn't me that it happened to. Seeing it happen is so inferior to having it happen to you."

Harry put his arms around her and said equally softly, "I know Mione, it's terrible but there is little we can do for her, except to be there for her. If only my moms were here, they would know what to do."

He was shaken from his musings when he felt a hand land on each of his shoulders and a gentle voice who said, "And here we are Harry, thanks to you four."

Harry and Hermione quickly turned around to see Aurora and Gabrielle standing behind them. Both women were wearing a kimono and they looked even worse than the kids had felt when they woke up. Their faces were pale white, their eyes were bloodshot and they looked extremely tired.

"MOM!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed at the same time, before rushing in and giving both women a fierce hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," Harry sniffed softly while he buried his head in Aurora's hair, just as he had always done when he was younger.

Aurora and Gabrielle softly held the two children in their arms while they looked over their heads towards the bed, where Fleur and Ginny had also noticed their presence but were reluctant to leave Luna behind, since she was still clamping herself to Ginny.

After a minute, Harry and Hermione released the two women and they made their way over to the bed. At a sign from Gabrielle Ginny softly pried Luna's hands loose and made her look up until she saw Aurora and Gabrielle standing before the bed.

Luna now launched herself from the bed and into Gabrielle's arms who held her securely pressed against her while she sat down on the bed. "Hey sweetie, how are you holding up." Gabrielle's words, and more importantly, the way in which she said them, were able to put Luna at ease a little bit and the little girl finally relaxed a little in her arms.

"I can still feel him," Luna said softly and after a few sniffs, she continued, "Why would he do that to me? What have I ever done to him.?"

"We don't know sweetie, but I promise you, no one will ever do that to you again."

Aurora's words caused Luna to look towards her but her face was still pained and frightful. "How can you promise that, I have no powerful family, my father hasn't got the money to pay for those spells."

Hermione looked a little confused at this but Ginny whispered into her ear, "The most powerful and richest families have rings for their members to wear. Those rings are equipped with all kind of protective charms and wards. One of those charms is ment to protect the female family members from these kinds of things. But Luna's family hasn't been around for that long and ever since her mother died, Luna's father hasn't been the most stable-minded person, so the chance of Luna ever getting one of those rings is slim, if not non-existing."

Harry overheard those words and with a new kind of determination in his eyes, he walked towards Aurora and pulled the sleeve of her kimono to get her attention. "Mom, does me being the heir of a Most Ancient and Noble House give me the authority to adopt Luna into our family?"

Aurora was a little surprised by his question as in her exhausted state, her mind had not yet made the connections that his reached. After a minute of thinking she replied with a smile, "Yes Harry, it does."

"That's all I need to know." And Harry stepped towards Luna. He softly stroked the dirty-blond hair and said, "Luna, look at me." When she did, Harry looked her in her eyes and said in his official voice, "Luna Lovegood, I, Harry James Potter, sole heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys, hereby place you under our protection and, if you're willing, adopt you into our family."

Luna was too shocked to respond when a soft white glow enveloped all the inhabitants of the room. After a minute her silvery-grey eyes shone with a soft inner light and a delicate silver signet ring materialized on her left ring finger. Upon the ring was engraved the Emrys coat of arms, a dragon with spread wings surrounded by a ring of fire.

Luna looked back into Harry's eyes and said, "Well, I guess that means I'm willing."

Harry gave Luna a tight hug and whispered into her ear, "Welcome to the family, sis."

Author's note:

I'm so sorry for not updating this sooner, but I just didn't have the time to finish this chapter to my satisfaction. As it stands, I have left out quite a bit which will be the first part of next chapter, but I wanted to give you something to reward you all for your patience with me.

To prevent any angry reviews, let me tell you a few things.

Anderson's past will be revealed next chapter.

The full repercussions of the events from this chapter will likewise become clear next chapter.

As of right now, Luna is officially a member of the Emrys family, with all the benefits that come with that. Whereas I don't exactly hate Xenophilius, in this story he is not really fit to raise a child on his own.

No Luna will not become like the quartet, she will stay a 'normal' witch, but her abilities will be enhanced greatly by the training she will receive.

If there are any more questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

I also would like to ask that if you write a review with tips, or question, please don't do it as a guest, as I can't reply to them.

I received a review from cGc, to which I would love to respond, as he or she has addressed some good points which I would like to discuss, so if you're reading this, please send me a PM so I can respond to you.

I sincerely hope that I'll be able to post the next update sooner.

Medieval Maniak.


	26. Chapter 26

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

 _Chapter 25_

" _Luna Lovegood, I Harry James Potter, sole heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys, hereby place you under our protection, and, if you're willing, adopt you into our family."_

 _Luna was too shocked to respond when a soft white glow enveloped all the inhabitants of the room. After a minute her silvery-grey eyes shone with a soft inner light and a delicate silver signet ring materialized on her left ring finger. Upon the ring was engraved the Emrys coat of arms, a dragon with spread wings surrounded by a ring of fire._

 _Luna looked back into Harry's eyes and said, "Well, I guess that means I'm willing."_

 _Harry gave Luna a tight hug and whispered into her ear, "Welcome to the family, sis."_

When Harry released her, Luna was hugged by the others and they all welcomed her into the family. When Ginny welcomed her, Luna was a bit surprised and she asked, "Why are you welcoming me, you aren't part of the family to, or are you?"

With an awkward grin on her face, Ginny said, "Well… to be honest, we are Luna. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and I, we're kind of married so…."

"So, that means you are my big sister now," Luna exclaimed happily while giving Ginny an extra tight hug. "Of all my dreams, this was always the one I hoped to come true the most."

While they were all engrossed in this little family gathering, they were unaware that they had gained an audience. In the doorway were three people, Anderson, Dan, and Ivan, all with a similar smile on their faces until Anderson softly cleared his throat.

"Ahum, I hate to interrupt, but there are some issues we have to discuss that cannot wait."

Aurora looked up and after sharing a look with her wife she said, "We'll be there shortly, could you wait for us in the armory." Anderson nodded and he left with Dan and Ivan on his heels.

Aurora turned towards the five kids and said, "I don't want to separate you, but Luna, you need to go see Narcissa, she will want to see you to finish your healing." Turning to the quartet she added, "And you four need to get dressed, it is time we answered some of your questions so you'll come with us to speak with Anderson."

Harry and the girls gave Luna a last hug before they left the room and returned to their own to get dressed. In the hallway, they met Narcissa, who had been informed that Luna had woken up and was on her way to see how she was doing.

When Narcissa entered the room, she was happy to see that Luna was awake and her eyes fell immediately on the ring on Luna's left hand. She didn't comment on it but smiled when she saw it. "How are you doing Luna?"

"I… I'm okay," was Luna's reply but Narcissa smiled sadly and said,

"No you're not, but we'll get you there."

Gabrielle laid Luna back down on the bed and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "We'll come back as soon as we're done with our meeting. We'll talk more then."

Aurora likewise said goodbye for the moment and they left Narcissa alone with her patient. They headed for their own room and changed into some easy clothes, a sweater and sweat pants, before they headed downstairs.

The armory was located across the hall from the security room, and was a large, bunker-like room. The room was covered with every kind of secrecy ward known to goblin kind, and it was the safest place for a conversation in the entire manor. The walls of the room were covered with at least 200 different weapons. They were hung in chronological order, from daggers, to swords, crossbows, muskets, rifles, SMGs, assault rifles, and four black .50 Desert Eagle's.

When they entered the room, they found Harry and the girls had already arrived and were sitting at the circular table that stood in the middle of the room. Anderson, Dan and Ivan were likewise sitting at the table, leaving two empty chairs between Harry and Anderson.

Aurora and Gabrielle took their seats and after a tense silence, which lasted maybe a minute, Gabrielle was the first to speak. "I guess you all want to know what happened yesterday evening, and you have a right to know."

Aurora took over from there, "By now I'm guessing you have all heard the _true_ story of how Gabrielle and I became the Dark Angels." She looked at the kids as she said this because she knew that the other three did know.

"Yes mom, we know. Anderson showed us the memories last night."

Dan looked up with a shocked expression and he asked furiously, "WHAT. He _showed_ you." Before looking to Anderson who was seated next to him and adding, "What were you thinking, they are children there is not a single reason for them to see such a thing."

Aurora calmly raised her hand to stop Dan's tirade before he could build up steam. "He did what was necessary Dan, and if you'll let me, I'll explain why." Dan nodded curtly, while still staring daggers at Anderson.

"Ever since we ourselves were raped, and tortured without reason, we have a very low tolerance for people who do such things. However, when it happens to someone we are close to, it can cause a black-out. So far Anderson has managed to contain us most of the times when that happened, or at least diminish the impact for the outside world. But unfortunately, he wasn't always present.

In 1099 the siege of Jerusalem, we were the first inside the city and found necromancers attempting to summon an army through the sacrifice of innocents. The entire city of forty thousand perished.

In 1755 we destroyed a large part of Lisbon, killing more than fifty thousand innocent people in the process."

The kids, Dan and Ivan all had to swallow upon hearing that. And Gabrielle added sadly, "Remember what we told you last Christmas, that number was not an exaggeration, between us we are responsible for the deaths of more than half a million people."

At this Anderson saw their looks and said, "And regardless of the number of innocents, you have saved the lives of millions in the process, so stop beating yourselves up about it. We are fighting a war and in war there are casualties, those are your own words."

Aurora gave him a sad little smile and replied, "I know, Arthur, I know."

Now Harry was the one who spoke. "I think it is time we got some answers, so who exactly are you?" this last he asked while looking directly at Anderson and the girls mimicked his staring to the amusement of the adults.

"Very well Harry," Anderson responded with a grim grin, and turning to Aurora and Gabrielle he asked, "Shall I tell them or do you want to do it?"

With a similar grim expression, Gabrielle replied, "Go ahead."

Anderson nodded and began his tale. "Sarah and I could be called, 'the Angels failed experiment'. You four have received the dragon blood and because you were all magicals, it was a success. Sarah and I were muggles, and along with 18 other Legionnaires, we volunteered.

We hoped that the dragon blood would strengthen us as it has done with you, but it was a disaster. The others died within minutes and Sarah was reduced to a ghost-like state. It was only thanks to the efforts of the four founders of Hogwarts that Sarah was saved from oblivion and they bound her to the castle.

I was the only successful candidate. One, out of twenty."

"So… you're like us?" Fleur asked a little confused.

"Not exactly Fleur." Came Anderson's reply. "You have magic and I don't. With me the only things it enhanced are physical strength, stamina, resilience and I don't age. Also, I am able to communicate telepathically, but only to others who have the same ability and with a limited range."

The kids nodded in understanding and now it was Ginny who asked, "Who were you before you became what you are now?"

With a small grin, which was mirrored by Aurora and Gabrielle, Anderson replied, "I was born in 967 A.D. as His Royal Highness, Prince Arthur Pendragon the Third, second son of Edward the First. Sarah was born 15 minutes later, seeing as she is my twin sister."

The four kids and Dan and Ivan were looking slack-jawed at the grinning looks of the other three until Harry said, "So you're Aunt Lizzy's great- great- great- great- uncle or something like that."

Anderson nodded and replied, "That is correct Harry. But when I joined the Legion, as was customary for every second-born son of the monarchy since the days of King Arthur himself, I renounced my claim to the throne and devoted myself to the protection of the land. Sarah chose to join up as well, making her the first female legionnaire, though it took the interference of Aurora and Gabrielle to convince my father to allow it.

After my 'transformation', we spread the word that both Sarah and myself had fallen in battle, and changed my name to Anderson, to hide my true identity."

The others nodded in acceptance of this explanation and Dan took the word. "With that explained, can we perhaps get back to the main story, because I would still very much like to know why you showed those memories to my daughter."

Anderson nodded but before he could begin, Gabrielle spoke up. "Very well Dan. Anderson showed them the memory because we told him to do so if there ever came a moment that they needed the information. And yesterday was such a moment.

After we dealt with the basilisks, we came to the discovery that Luna was missing. We finally found her in the dungeons where she was being raped by that ass-wipe Lockfart. Seeing this happen to a girl who had become very close to us for the past few months, triggered an 'episode'. Aurora and I had a black-out, we were reminded of our own past and became lost in the darkness of our own minds.

Essentially Aurora and I are suffering from a form of PTSD, and when we have a panic-attack, it ousts itself in the form of black fire which, if uncontained, can cause destruction similar to a nuclear warhead. Certain high value places in Britain and some other countries have special wards that can contain us if we have an attack, but they require an immense amount of energy to power.

For example, Hogwarts stands on a hotspot of magical energy and her wards are amongst the strongest in the world, but if Anderson hadn't reinforced them, they would have been overwhelmed in less than 15 minutes.

Some places have taken other precautions, Gringotts has two dozen Dragonstones, each more than a foot-and-a-half in diameter reserved for this purpose.

The White House has a direct line to the nearest nuclear power plant, which will cause a blackout for half of Washington if used, but it will produce enough power to keep the wards up."

"But what did he use to reinforce the wards at Hogwarts?" Hermione interrupted the story.

Anderson pulled the scepter he had used from a pouch on his belt and placed it on the table. "This is one of a set of five, they were made by Merlin himself after the destruction of the other island near Avalon. The destruction wrought there made him realize that he had to find a way to keep them in check should their powers ever get out of control.

Each scepter contains enough power to keep them under control for exactly one hour and they can be recharged, but it takes nearly a century."

Hermione carefully picked up the scepter and asked, "What are they made of?"

Anderson shrugged and said, "Not a clue, you'd have to ask _him_ when you return to Hogwarts."

Gabrielle nodded and said, "Indeed, but back to the story. I have honestly no idea what happened after we entered the dungeon and neither does Aurora. So, Ivan, if you would."

Ivan nodded and began his part of the story. "When we entered the dungeon there were three people in it, Luna, Lockfart and a young man who I didn't recognize. The kids were in their wolf-form and jumped at Lockfart, ripping him apart. The other one grabbed a wand but before he could use it, I put three Hellfire rounds into his head. However, his body vanished into thin air."

At this Aurora, Gabrielle and Anderson looked up in surprise until their looks turned to worry when Ivan pulled a small black book from a pouch and placed it on the table with the words, "This was on the table next to him."

Gabrielle carefully picked up the book and as soon as she touched it, she felt it. Her head swung immediately towards her wife who was looking at her with a similarly shocked expression.

"What is that mom?" Harry asked carefully when no explanation was coming.

They turned back to the others and Gabrielle said, "When we searched Malfoy Manor for anything dark or dangerous, Dobby came to us and gave us something that he called, 'his master's most prized possession. That was this book. It is supposed to be under lock and key at the Ministry, I have no idea how it got into Lockfart's hands, but this would explain a lot.

If we're right, and we probably are, then this is a Horcrux."

"You mean like the one the goblins removed from my scar?" Harry asked with surprise. Just before Harry and Hermione had started Hogwarts, Aurora and Gabrielle had told them about what had happened that day at the bank.

"Yes Harry, exactly like the one they removed from you." Turning to no one in particular Aurora added, "Pudgy has got some explaining to do after this fiasco. He is the only one who could have gotten behind Amelia's back and removed this from safe storage"

"Can we watch?" Hermione asked hopefully, while the others shared her excited expression.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the five adults all burst out laughing and when she had calmed down a little, Gabrielle said, "We'll show you the memory afterwards."

The kids nodded with a grin while Aurora picked up the horcrux and called, "Charles." When said elf popped into the room and made a small bow she said to him, "Please bring this to Ragnok, tell him to lock it in a vault and not remove it until I come and do so personally. If he has any questions, I'll come by later to answer them."

After a short silence Aurora cleared her throat. Her face had gone serious again and Gabrielle's had as well. She shared a look with Dan and he nodded once before reaching into his pocket and removing a small, black velvet jewel case. He slid it towards Aurora who accepted it and turned back to the kids.

"Do you know why Gabrielle and I have all these earrings?" She lifted her hair away from her ears while she said this and revealed said earrings, ten ruby studs in each ear and three plain gold rings in her right ear and two in her left ear.

The kids shook their heads and Fleur said questioningly, "Because they're pretty?"

Aurora grinned once before she shook her head and Gabrielle replied, "No Fleur. Each gemstone stands for an important or memorable event in our lives, both joyous and saddening. They are our way of remembering those events."

"What kind of events do you mean?" Ginny asked.

Touching several of the studs in order she said, "Our wedding, our failure with the experiment with Anderson, the loss and retaking of Avalon. Some are of people we loved and lost, others are about important people we killed."

"And what about those rings?" Harry asked, pointing at the golden earrings.

"Each of them represents one of you, remember those rings we gave you last year, I told you they would let us know if you were ever in trouble, these let us know. Each of these are connected to one of yours and the fifth is connected to the ring Luna is wearing."

"But to continue to the point," Gabrielle took over from her wife, "We want to give you the option to do the same thing if you want to. She opened the box and revealed four identical studs, each carried a small onyx stone that had the Emery's family crest engraved on it. "We asked Griphook to have the goblin jewelers make these."

She pushed the box to the kids and they each took out one of the studs and studied them. After a short while each of the girls removed the small diamond that was placed in their right ears and replaced it with the onyx stud they were holding. The diamonds had been a gift from Ragnok for their birthdays, while Harry had gotten a goblin-silver wristwatch. Harry looked a bit lost, he wanted to do the same as the girls, but he didn't have holes in his ears.

Gabrielle saw his face and said, "If you want to, we can have it put in for you." And turning to the girls she added, "They weren't meant to be worn on that spot girls, we start at the top of the ear and work our way downwards."

The girls took the studs out again and put the diamonds back in place before turning to Gabrielle, who said, "We'll put them in later, your dragon blood ensures that there will be no infection and it'll heal in a day or so."

With the important matters covered for now, Aurora and Gabrielle stood up and Gabrielle said, "Please excuse us for now, we need more time to recover, we'll come to Avalon the day after tomorrow to discuss the rest."

Anderson nodded and said, "Of course, we'll see you then," before standing up and leaving the room. Before they left Aurora said to the Dan and Ivan, "I'm going to need some escorts to the Ministry tomorrow, please be at the Palace at ten and bring 10 of the Black Angels with you, suits only." They both nodded before leaving as well.

The rest of the day was spent doing absolutely nothing. The kids introduced Luna to the pool room and they were all able to relax a little. Narcissa and Draco had returned home after Narcissa had finished healing Luna and Gabrielle had given her something to think about.

Just when they were about to leave, Narcissa was stopped by Gabrielle who said, "I want to thank you again for your help yesterday and this morning. If you want, I would like to offer you a job. Madam Pomfrey could use some help, and I think you could do an excellent job there."

Narcissa was surprised by the offer and had promised that she would think about it.

The next day found the inhabitants of Potter Manor at the kitchen table for breakfast. Harry and the girls were wearing ordinary muggle clothes, but Aurora and Gabrielle were wearing their 'official' robes over their armor, just in case. They were going to give Pudgy the fright of his life today, before taking the kids into London.

After breakfast, they all took the floo towards Buckingham Palace where they found Dan and Ivan waiting for them with ten other men. As instructed they were all wearing black suits and shades. To the kids, they looked like the embodiment of the stereotypical secret service agents they show in muggle movies.

Dan nodded to the group and said, "Ready to go?"

Aurora nodded and said, "We are, you guys take the SUV's to Whitehall, I'll drop by Gringotts to get the diary and I'll meet you there." After that she gave Gabrielle a quick kiss and told the kids to behave, as they would stay at the palace, before flaming away.

When she arrived at their customary spot in Gringotts, outside the doors to Ragnok's office, she knocked three times before Ragnok's voice came from inside. "Enter."

Aurora opened the door and stepped into the office. She closed the doors behind her and took a seat before the desk. Once she was seated Ragnok spoke again, "Why have you sent another of those infernal items to my bank? Why haven't you destroyed it already?"

"Because we need it first and your bank is the safest place for it. The wards around the vaults ensure that it can't ensnare the mind of someone else. Believe me when I say, I want that thing destroyed more than you do."

Ragnok nodded before ringing the small golden bell and ordering his aid to have the diary brought to his office. Turning back to Aurora he said, "I had it placed into one of the black vaults. The ones we use for safekeeping dangerous artifacts or especially dark items."

Aurora nodded and replied, "I expected nothing less. And you have my word, it'll be destroyed for good before the end the day."

Ragnok nodded gruffly as the door was opened again and the goblin he had sent away returned carrying a small steel box. Even from where she sat, Aurora could feel the wards surrounding the box and she accepted it from the goblin when he handed it to her.

While Aurora put the box away into one of her pouches, Ragnok saw the gun located next to it and said with a small grin, "Expecting trouble at the Ministry?"

Aurora gave him an innocent smile in return and said, "I'm not planning on it, but you never know with Pudgy and the Umbitch. Let's hope that they're stupid enough to make my day."

Ragnok chuckled loudly and responded, "We can only hope."

Aurora returned his grin before standing up again and taking her leave. Once she was out of the office, she flamed to a deserted ally close to Whitehall and walked the rest of the way there. She was wearing her black silk cape to hide her robes so apart from a few curious looks, she wasn't disturbed by anyone.

When she reached the red phone box she had to wait a few minutes until the others arrived. Once they did they quickly entered the elevator and dialed the number to get it moving. Apparently, the elevator had learnt as it didn't ask for their name and reason of visit, but remained quiet during the short trip.

As soon as they came into view of the atrium, both Aurora and Gabrielle adopted a thunderous look and the ten men straightened their faces as well, it was show time.

When the elevator touched down Aurora kicked it open and they walked out. Dan, Ivan and the others immediately spread out with Ivan taking the lead. His large posture cleared the way, though it could also be the dangerous aura surrounding Aurora and Gabrielle that caused the witches and wizards around them to clear a path.

They walked straight towards the elevators and took it to level two. When they golden elevator doors opened again Aurora and Gabrielle stormed out and walked swiftly towards the office of Amelia Bones.

Once they reached the office, the two junior aurors standing guard outside tried to look intimidating while they 'attempted' to stop them from entering. All it took was Ivan walking up to them and shoving them aside, before they ran off.

As soon as the door opened, Amelia jumped up with her wand at the ready but when she recognized her visitors, she quickly lowered it again. "My Ladies, what can I help you with?"

Aurora marched towards the desk and slammed the steel box on the polished wood. Opening the chest, she pulled out the diary and placed it on top of the lid. With a snarl in her voice she said, "You can start by explaining how this came to be in the hands of that fuck-head Lockfart, when it is supposed to be locked up with the rest of the evidence I handed over to you after we cleared out Malfoy Manor."

Amelia made an attempt to pick up the small book, but Aurora stopped her before she could take it. "STOP, don't touch it. Use your wand to scan it first, then you'll know what is so worrisome about it."

Amelia did as she said and used her wand to cast several detection spells on the book. Her face turned from curious, to worried, to outraged and finally to desperate. "No, this… this cannot be, he didn't…" she muttered softly before slumping down in the chair behind her.

Looking up at Aurora and Gabrielle she asked softly, "Seven?"

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle replied, "Yes, seven. That is the reason why Voldemort didn't die that night in Godric's Hollow. His soul was still tied to this world so it couldn't move on. We have already dealt with one of them, so that leaves us with 5 more. I'm going to ask Saul if he can come up with a way to track down the others, as they have to be destroyed if we ever want to get rid of him for good."

Amelia looked completely devastated by the news until she realized something. "Wait, did you say Lockhart had this, this _thing_ in his possession?" when both the others nodded, she added, "So Voldemort was behind the attack on Hogwarts?"

The others nodded again and Gabrielle said, "Yes, he was. He used this diary to possess Lockfart and using a very dark ritual, they tried to revive a 16-year-old version of Voldemort, by draining the life-force of a first-year girl."

"Where is Lockhart now?" Amelia's question carried an undertone of anger.

With a grim smile, Aurora said, "He's dust. The kids tore him apart when they found him raping Luna Lovegood. We burned his body to make sure not a trace of the taint remained."

Amelia's face had gone ashen again and she said with a little disbelieve, "You mean that Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny _killed_ him?"

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle said, "Yes they did. Aurora and I were… otherwise engaged, so the kids got to him first. We don't regret it though, they have to learn what it's like to take a live and no one is going to miss that _thing_."

Amelia nodded softly in understanding before she turned her attention back to the diary, "I don't understand how this got out of storage. The only one besides me who can get something out of there is… oh crap." Looking up at Aurora and Gabrielle she added, with a scowl, "Fudge."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded again and Gabrielle said, "Yes that was the same conclusion we arrived at. So, I propose we go and ask him why he removed this particular item and gave it to Lockhart."

Amelia stood up resolutely and walked around her desk before she followed them out of her office.

Back in the hallway she marched to the Auror's headquarters and jelled through the large room, "Scrimgeour, Shacklebolt, with me." Said aurors, respectively Head and Deputy Head of the Aurors, came hastily towards her, they had enough experience to know by her tone of voice that something was wrong.

They wordlessly fell in line behind Amelia, though both threw some curious looks towards the 'bodyguards' of Aurora and Gabrielle. Scrimgeour was curious who they were, and Kingsley was more interested in why they were there, as he immediately recognized Dan and Ivan.

Aurora led the small group back towards the golden elevators and after they had all gone in, the lift went up one floor and the entire group stepped out again.

Flanked by Amelia on her left and Gabrielle on her right, Aurora marched directly towards the door to Fudge's office and kicked the door open. His toad-like senior undersecretary, immediately jumped up and started throwing around verbal threats about their lack of respect. However, a well-placed full body-bind from Amelia shut her up quite nicely.

When Aurora was about to kick in the door to Fudge's office as well, the door was spared that fate by being opened from within.

Cornelius Fudge stood eye to chest with a particularly pissed-off looking head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys, and he swallowed loudly as he looked up towards her furious face.

"My lady, wha… what can I do for you?" He stammered before Aurora snapped her fingers and Dan and Ivan appeared on either side of her. They quickly entered the office and picked up the Minster for Magic. They carried him back to his desk and deposited him in his chair.

Aurora and the others followed directly behind them, with the exception of the Black Angels, who stayed outside to prevent anyone from entering the office. Aurora walked up to the desk and slammed the diary on the polished black wood before Fudge's nose. With the same snarl, she had used with Amelia a few minutes earlier, she said, "How is it possible that I find this item in the possession of Lockfart, when it is supposed to be locked away in the DMLE's evidence storage?"

Fudge turned even paler when he recognized the small book and looked frantically towards Amelia. She looked back with an ice-cold expression making it clear that he would not have to hope for any help from her.

"I… I…." Fudge was unable to say much more before he was interrupted by Gabrielle

"Think very carefully about what you are going to say next Fudge, as this book carries a very dark piece of magic that is directly responsible for the deaths of three students and two staff members of Hogwarts."

Now even the last remaining color vanished from his face and he was unable to do more than open and close his mouth like a goldfish. Finally, he seemed to pull himself together a little and he said, "It was brought to my attention that that particular item carried some interesting magic and I should have it examined by an expert. Gilderoy Lockhart was offered as such an expert so I had the item brought to him for further inspection."

"Who brought that to your attention?" Amelia asked sharply with a single raised eyebrow.

"Junior Auror Patrick Savage."

Amelia immediately turned to the two aurors behind her and said, "I saw him downstairs, get him here, now." Both men nodded and turned around before hurrying back towards the DMLE."

While they waited for the two Aurors to return, Aurora refocused her attention on the Minister for Magic who was still quivering in his chair. "Let me make one thing very clear Fudge, any more of these 'mistakes', and I'll have you replaced. I allowed you to be elected because I hoped you would be the competent Minister this country desperately needs, but unless you start acting like it, I will call for a Vote of No Confidence and make no illusions, you will not survive that."

Fudge swallowed as he digested that news and he kept to himself while they waited for Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt to return.

After a few minutes the two senior Aurors returned, dragging an unconscious young man between them. At Amelia's raised eyebrow Scrimgeour said, "He tried to run so we had to stun him." He pulled a wand from his pocket and handed it to Amelia. "He tried to hex us before he ran."

Amelia nodded and at a sign from her, the two Aurors dropped Savage on the floor before stepping back towards the door. Amelia rennervated the young Auror and kept her wand trained on him while he woke.

As soon as his eyes opened, Patrick stared frantically between Amelia, Aurora, Gabrielle, and Fudge. The last was the only one not staring at him in anger, instead the Minister had an expression of resigned worry on his face.

"Auror Savage, do you know why you are here?" Amelia's question drew the young man's attention towards her and he shook his head in a futile attempt to look innocent.

Aurora picked the diary from the desk and showed it to him, causing his face to lose all color. "Yes, now he remembers," Aurora snarled and with a lighting quick move she grabbed him by the hair and pulled him on his feet. She pushed him into the chair behind him and after placing the diary back on the desk, she placed both her hands on either side of his head and dove into his memory.

After a minute, she pulled out again and gave him a vicious right hook to his jaw, knocking him out. To preempt any questions, she pulled up his let sleeve and revealed a pitch black Dark Mark was revealed. The snake was slowly moving and Fudge stepped back in shock. "That is impossible." He muttered.

Aurora raised her eyebrows and asked sarcastically, "Oh really? How is that impossible, I can clearly see it with my own two eyes."

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, is dead. He was killed eleven years ago and his followers have all been locked up." The utter conviction with which he spoke was a little sickening and caused Aurora and Gabrielle to snort with disgust.

"He is not dead, Fudge." Aurora said coldly. "I saw his spirit last year, when I killed Quirinius Quirrel who's body he was possessing. More than a thousand others, saw his spirit leave Quirrell's body and he even talked to them. His spirit used this diary to possess Lockfart and allowed him to release 7 basilisks into the halls of Hogwarts. So, don't you dare try to tell me that he is dead."

Fudge looked at her with fear and disbelief in his eyes and he muttered, "Crazy, totally insane. This is just an attempt to undermine my position. You want to place Bones in my place don't you."

"YES, FUDGE." Aurora roared through the office. "I want to put Amelia in your place, because she isn't blinded by the power of her position. She recognizes the signs when she sees them, and doesn't try to hide from the truth. So please, give me an excuse and I'll have you out of here in no time."

The venom in her voice caused Fudge to retreat even further and he muttered, "This is treason, you are trying to undermine the Minister for Magic. You will be arrested for this."

"Oh really?" Aurora replied while rolling her eyes. "And by who exactly are we going to be arrested? You are accusing the Head of the DMLE, the Head and Deputy Head of the Auror office, and the head of a Founding Family, you can't touch us as not a single Auror will even attempt to arrest any of us."

"Get out," Fudge said coldly, apparently having reached a decision.

Aurora looked him calmly in the eyes and said, "Very well, we shall leave you now. But mark my words Fudge, if you are so determined to ignore me, then let's see how well you do without my support." She turned around and followed the others out of the office.

Turning around at the door she added almost casually, "O, and Mister Savage here is co-responsible for the deaths of five people, so…" She pulled her SILH from beneath her robes and shot Savage through the head, showering Fudge in blood and pieces of brain. "Have a nice day Minister." She put her gun away again and turned around, walking out of the office.

As soon as they were in the hallway again, Aurora took the lead and led the group back to the DMLE and into Amelia's office, after Amelia dismissed Scrimgeour and Shacklebolt.

Amelia sat down at her office and after letting out a deep sigh, she looked up at Aurora and asked, "What do we do now?"

Aurora and Gabrielle shared a look and after a nod, they turned back to Amelia and Gabrielle said, "We go on with our preparations. If you want I can assign you a few bodyguards, I don't think it below Fudge to try something to get rid of you."

Amelia thought about the offer but ultimately shook her head, "No, that would not be wise. I think it best if we try not to antagonize Fudge any more than we already have. He might be a fool, but he is a fool with power. Don't forget, you have a Veto as the head of a Founding Family, but he does as well as Minister for Magic."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and after a moment, Gabrielle reached under her robe and removed a small silver skull on a chain from her pocket. She handed it to Amelia with the words, "From now on, I want you to wear this wherever you go. As long as it is touching your skin, all you need to do is think, 'Help', and a signal will be send to Avalon. The pendant also serves as a portkey beacon, so one of our 24/7 response teams will be with you within a minute."

Amelia nodded in thanks and after she accepted the necklace, she hung it around her neck where it became invisible. "Thank you, maybe it is wise for you to leave now, Fudge has spies everywhere and I don't trust more than half of my own department, thanks to your policy of having the good ones sent to the MSS."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded in acceptance of her advice and after saying goodbye, they led their group out of her office and out of the Ministry. They didn't know what Fudge's response would be, but they were glad that Ragnok had succeeded in buying the Ministry's shares of the Daily Prophet, so he couldn't use the papers to target them.


	27. Chapter 27

This chapter contains a lemon, warning will be posted before it begins.

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 26

When Aurora and Gabrielle had left for the Ministry, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny led Luna through the hallways of Buckingham Palace and gave her the grand tour, discreetly followed by two suited MSS agents.

After a while Luna asked with a soft blush, "Ehh, its very interesting and all, but where are we?"

The quartet shared a look of confusion until they realized that none of them had actually told Luna where they were. "I'm so sorry Luna, we thought you already knew." Harry quickly apologized, "We are in Buckingham Palace, where Aunt Lizzy lives."

Luna blinked several times until she said awestruck, "You are related to the Queen?"

Harry nodded but before he could respond a voice came from the hallway next to them. "That is correct Miss Lovegood, Harry is the grandson of my sister." Queen Elizabeth came walking towards them with a soft smile on her lips.

"Aunt Lizzy," Harry said and he ran into his aunt's outstretched arms, followed by Hermione, Fleur and Ginny who did the same thing.

When Ginny was done, Elizabeth looked expectantly to Luna who was a bit unsure of what to do until Fleur whispered in her ear, "Go give her a hug,"

Luna followed her advice and stepped towards the queen, with a little trepidation in her steps. When she reached her, Elizabeth gently, but firmly closed her arms around the young girl and pressed her closely against her. "Welcome to the family my dear," she said softly in Luna's ear, causing her to look up in surprise.

"How did you know?"

Elizabeth smiled before she released her and showed Luna, her left hand. After a few seconds a similar ring to Luna's own materialized on her middle finger, only this one carried the Pendragon coat of arms. "We are all part of the family dear, I knew the moment you accepted and besides, Anderson informed me about it."

Luna smiled softly and hugged Elizabeth once again, before she let go and she and the others followed Elizabeth to their customary sitting room where they spent the time until Aurora and Gabrielle would return. Elizabeth wanted to hear about what they had been up to at Hogwarts, and they were eager to tell her, but the events of Halloween eve were not mentioned by anyone.

When Aurora and Gabrielle came back to the palace, they said goodbye to the Dark Angels, with the exception of Dan and Ivan as they would stay with them.

Upon entering the sitting room, Aurora and Gabrielle found Harry and Hermione excitedly telling Luna about the extended family under the watchful eyes of Elizabeth, Fleur and Ginny. Luna was listening with a mixture of joy and longing on her face that went unnoticed by all but Gabrielle.

"Hey guys," Gabrielle said softly so as not to startle them. The group looked up and made attempts to get up, but Gabrielle raised her hands and added, "Don't get up yet, we're gonne change first." She threw Elizabeth a look that said, 'come with us', before she and Aurora left the room again.

Elizabeth stood up and in answer to the questioning looks she said, "I have some other matters to attend to, I will see you before you leave." Before she to left the room and followed the two-waiting woman towards her office.

Once Elizabeth had sat down, Aurora went behind a bedroom screen to change out of her armor and into a sweater and jeans, while Gabrielle gave Elizabeth an overview of the proceedings of the last few days.

When Aurora was done, Gabrielle went behind the screen to change into something similar to her wife and Aurora continued the tale with what had happened at the Ministry. When she was done, she concluded with, "So to put it directly, unless Pudgy gets his head out of his arse in the next few weeks, we got another one to keep an eye on besides Dumbledore and Voldy."

"Why can't you just replace him? I mean I know we didn't plan on it, but if he proves too much of a bother, it might be prudent to get rid of him sooner."

"We can't," Gabrielle said as she came from behind the screen. "There are some rules even _we_ cannot break. We can't replace governmental leaders without good reason and we need a mandate signed by at least 5 members of either the ICW or the U.N., before we are allowed to take action. It is one of the downsides of operating under the authority of the U.N.S.C.. And besides, even if he proves to be a real pain in our arse, at least we can count on him doing nothing to increase the defensive or offensive capabilities of the Ministry."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding and Aurora added, "I'll talk with Thomas soon, see if he can put some international pressure on Pudgy to make him a little more cooperative. Should be interesting to see how Pudgy will react to one of the most powerful men in the world telling him to behave."

Both Gabrielle and Elizabeth had to suppress a snigger as they imagined that particular scene taking place. They talked a little more about Luna and their plans with the girl, until Aurora and Gabrielle stood up to leave.

"Charles," Aurora said and the elf appeared instantaneously. After he made a short bow Aurora added, "Would you please take our armor to the manor and put it back where it belongs, we won't be needing it anymore today.

"Of course, mistress," Charles replied. "Should we count on you for dinner, or are you eating in the city?"

Aurora looked at Gabrielle before replying, "We'll take the kids to a restaurant, you and the others should take the night off, as we'll probably be late."

Charles bowed again before walking behind the screen and popping away, taking their armor and robes with him. They were both wearing jeans and sweaters, with one of their SILH's hidden in the waistband of their jeans, there was no such thing as too paranoid.

Once they rejoined the group in the sitting room, the five kids stood up and followed them and Dan and Ivan towards the garage, where they said goodbye to Elizabeth before getting into one of her black SUV's.

The driver dropped them off at Brompton Road, at the entrance of Harrods and Aurora and Gabrielle led the children inside, with Dan and Ivan making up the back. Once inside they headed to the private, high-end jewelry department where they were stopped by a pair of wanne-be tough guys in grey suits.

"I don't believe you have the proper funds to enter here, so better make yourself scarce all right."

Aurora raised her eyebrow slightly at the right men's words but didn't move a muscle before the left one added, "Are you deaf? Scram or you're gonne get hurt."

Now Aurora did react, she looked between the men and whistled at a woman standing behind the counter. The women's eyes went wide and she quickly said, "Let them through," shocking the two security guards.

The men quickly stepped aside, letting the group through until they came face-to-face with Ivan when they wanted to take their place again. "Now I suggest you two go get a break, before _you_ are the ones getting hurt." He cracked his knuckles for emphasis and after a quick nod from the women behind the counter, the two men quickly walked off.

"I am so sorry about that loves, they are new around here." The woman behind the counter walked around it and they got a good look at her. She looked to be around her mid-fifties with shoulder-length silver-grey hair put in an elegant bun and she was wearing a knee-length dress with full sleeves in a royal purple color.

"That's all right, Francine. We should have informed you that we would be coming." Gabrielle smiled softly while she said that.

The now named Francine nodded in understanding before asking, "So what can I help you with today? Is it for you two, or for the children?" She looked at each of the kids in turn with an artistic eye as if she was measuring them up for something.

Aurora chuckled softly and Gabrielle replied, "We may have you do something later, but the kids are first, they have earned their first mark."

"Oooh," Francine said with a delighted gleam in her eyes. "Let me see, let me see."

Gabrielle grinningly handed her the small black box with the four studs and Francine carefully opened it. She took one of them out and studied it with a monocle that was hanging from a platinum chain and attached to a brooch on her dress.

"Beautiful work," Francine muttered softly before looking back up. "Who made them, Nagnok? It looks like his work, but he doesn't usually work with onyx."

The kids looked up curiously at this, not having expected to find someone who knew about goblins in a muggle luxury department store.

The three women grinned softly at their reaction and Gabrielle said, "Yes, Francine it is Nagnok's work, we told him to use the onyx to keep them neutral." Turning to the kids she began, "Francine is…"

"I'm odd." Francine cut in with a grin. She stood up right, after placing the onyx stud back in the box and shook her head wildly, loosening her hair from the bun and causing it to swirl all around her. They could all feel something magical come from her and when she stopped the kids' jaws dropped.

Francine had undergone a complete transformation. Her dress had turned into a black, miniskirt, and cut-off Motörhead shirt that kept her midriff bare, showing a double bellybutton piercing and an intricate Celtic knot tattooed on her abdomen. Her hair was now the same silvery color as that of Fleur and cut into a Mohawk ending in a braid that went down to her lower back, leaving the sides of her head bald.

She had several rings in her left eyebrow and one in her nose, and just as with Aurora and Gabrielle, both of her ears were filled with golden rings and jeweled studs, a mixture of sapphires, rubies, and diamonds.

To finish the look, every square inch of her arms, back, shoulders and chest was covered in intricate tattoos with a Celtic design. Unknown to them, both Dan and Ivan were standing gaping in the doorway, with a similar look as they had had when they met Apolline for the first time.

"You're a Veela," Fleur gasped as she recognized the signs.

Francine nodded and with a devilish grin she said, "When I was young, I was, 'encouraged' to go into voluntary exile by the Veela council because I refused to adhere to their opinion of feminine beauty. I was lucky enough to meet some wonderful people who took me in and gave me the freedom I sought."

When the kids looked at them Aurora and Gabrielle both raised their hands and said at the same time, "It wasn't us."

With a grin Francine said to the kids, "Allow me to properly introduce myself, I'm Francine Flamel, adopted daughter of Nicolas and Perenelle. My parents wrote me a letter about Aurora and Gabrielle having adopted you Harry. And about you as well girls, though you are new." that last she said while looking at Luna.

"Luna is the latest addition to our little family Francine, we'll tell you the story later." Turning to the kids Aurora said, "Thanks to the elixir of life Nicolas makes with the Philosophers Stone, Francine has been a friend of ours for nearly 200 years. She is the world's leading expert on the subject of magical body art, she has also done all of our earrings and the rest of our… decorations."

The kids nodded softly, not really wanting to know more about the rest of their 'decorations'.

"She is going to put in your studs," Gabrielle said while looking at the kids in turn. "If you still want them."

All four nodded as one, but Luna looked a little confused about the whole matter, so Gabrielle took her apart and while they both sat down on a pair of chairs, she explained the whole matter to the girl.

Meanwhile Aurora and the quartet followed Francine through a backdoor that led to a medium, sized room. The room was entirely white with stainless steel cabinets along the walls and a pair of comfy looking chairs in the middle. Something that looked like a massage table was placed against the back wall. Along the walls hung large posters of tattoos that were obviously magical as they showed designs that changed shape or animals that moved.

"Welcome to my art room," Francine said with a grin and motioning for the two chairs she said, "Whichever of you wants to go first, take a seat." After some internal debate, Hermione and Fleur were the first to take a seat.

Francine snapped her fingers and a delicate looking wand appeared in her right hand out of thin air. Aiming it at the small open box, she gave it an elegant wave and the four studs rose up in the air where they started to shimmer as she muttered a spell to sterilize them.

They kept floating as she summoned a rolling stool and took a seat in front of the two chairs. "So, tell me, who's first and on what side are we doing this."

Fleur was the one to speak up. "I'll go first and we are all going for the right ear."

"All right dear, let's get started then shall we." Francine smiled while summoning a rolling tray from the wall. Taking a hollow needle and a cork from a drawer, she put the needle in a small glass with a special potion to cause numbness and prevent infection.

While the needle was being prepared, Francine took out a small pencil and after giving Fleur a handheld mirror, she marked the spot where Fleur wanted to have it placed. Placing the pencil back on the tray, she took up the needle in one hand and the cork in the other. "Okay, I want you to take a deep breath and exhale when I say it, can you do that?"

Fleur nodded and when Francine told her she took a deep breath and as she exhaled, Francine pushed the needle through the cartilage of the upper part of Fleur's right ear. Fleur winced as the needle went through but the numbing of the potion took effect immediately and she didn't feel a thing while Francine replaced the needle with the stud, making sure that the emblem on it was the right side up.

"You're all done," Francine said as she gave Fleur the mirror back to look at her newest piece of jewelry. Fleur and the others all inspected the stud before it was Hermione's turn, quickly followed by Ginny and Harry last.

When they were done and Gabrielle and Luna had rejoined them, the kids went to inspect the studs before a large mirror, while Francine looked critically at the mass of black hair on Harry's head. She muttered softly, "That is so not gonne work, we've got to change that." Before she waved her wand and Harry's hair grew to shoulder length, startling both him and the four girls.

"Well, what do you think? Better than that untamable mess, right?"

Harry, and especially the girls, inspected his new look from all angles and with the exception of Harry, they all liked it. "It's so long," Harry complained to the girls' amusement.

"Don't worry Harry, you'll get used to it." Hermione said with a grin as she put it into a low ponytail. "Here now you look just like one of those old aristocrats."

Harry grumbled a little under his breath, not wanting to admit that he did think it looked nice like this.

On the other side of the room Francine whispered to Aurora and Gabrielle, "I got to say, it did not take them long to have him properly whipped." Now adopting a rather naughty look, added softly, "I've got something new which I'm sure you two are gonne love."

In answer to the questioning look from Aurora and Gabrielle she stuck out her tongue and showed them a trio of gleaming silver barbells placed in a triangle on her tongue. "Guess where these are for?" she asked with a cheeky wink.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle got a similar naughty grin and Gabrielle whispered, "You come by tonight and we'll try them out."

"That's a date," Francine whispered with a sultry voice at the moment the kids turned back to them.

"What do you think mom?" Harry asked, still fussing with his hair."

"It looks great Harry," Gabrielle said with a smile, "It makes you look a lot more mature than that bird's nest from before."

Aurora nodded in agreement and added with a devilish grin, "Now if you're done here, we're going shopping for the girls. Luna needs an entire new wardrobe befitting her new station in society and Hermione, Fleur and Ginny need some new underwear, those training bras are way to small by now."

Harry went instantly bright red at those words until Aurora got pity on him and said, "Don't worry Harry, you can take Dan or Ivan and go check out the rest of the store, I'm sure there are lots of interesting departments for you to see."

Harry let out a sigh of relief at that. He would have loved to watch the girls try on lingerie, but spending the entire afternoon clothes shopping for Luna was not his idea of a fun afternoon.

The rest of the afternoon flew by for the group, after saying goodbye to Francine and watching her turn back to her alternative form, they split up and spent the rest of the afternoon nosing around in the store. Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had a lot of fun trying on lingerie, occasionally taking suggestions from Aurora to try on something more revealing to tease Harry with later.

Gabrielle and Luna were shopping for clothes for Luna, using Dan as a packing mule to carry all the bags, while Harry and Ivan were browsing around the exotic artifacts department, picking up a scary looking voodoo mask from Haiti that Ivan planned to use to scare recruits during the next boot camp.

When they were all done with their respective shopping, having practically buried Dan in shopping bags, they made their way out of the store. Gabrielle lead the group to a warded and secluded area created just for the purpose of allowing magicals to shrink their purchases or have them picked up by house elves.

Once there, Dan dropped all of the bags and Gabrielle called Fredrick to pick them up. When that was done, Aurora led the group towards one of the better restaurants in Knightsbridge where they had their dinner. Luna got her first taste of food that was not cooked by magic, or by magical beings and she was very excited to give it a try.

She was not disappointed. The tenderloin with tater tots and mixed vegetables she had ordered tasted absolutely delicious. Harry and Ginny had gone with spareribs and fries, just like Aurora, while Hermione had a large chicken salad. Fleur and Gabrielle had gone with a lobster dinner while Dan and Ivan both took on the challenge of eating a two-and-a-half-pound T-bone steak.

After dinner, which Dan had a little trouble finishing, the group went to a surprise that had been organized by Elizabeth. She had reserved tickets for all of them to go and see Les Misérables at The Barbican.

Seeing as none of the kids had ever been to a musical before, they were all very excited when they found out what the surprise was. Needless to say, they all had a wonderful time at the theater.

At the end of the day they returned to Potter Manor, tired after an exciting day, but all happy and content. The quartet and Luna all headed to bed, seeing as it was nearing midnight and Dan and Ivan returned to their respective homes.

Rosy came to Gabrielle and Aurora and said softly while blushing heavily, "Mistresses, yous is having a visitor, she said she was expected and she is waiting in your bedroom." Aurora and Gabrielle shared an excited look and nodded at Rosy that it was okay. They were already looking forward to having a fun night with their favorite extra bed partner.

After the quartet had brought Luna to her room and said goodnight, they headed to their own room. Deciding to have a little fun with Harry, the girls went into the wardrobe one by one and came out wearing their bathrobes.

Once Harry had changed as well and they all had finished their nightly rituals, Harry was the first in the bed but when he looked where the girls were staying, his eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

Instead of their usual nightshirts, each of the girls was wearing a, in his eyes, beautiful set of lacy lingerie. Their growing bodies were well on the way to become the envy of others. Thanks to Aurora and Gabrielle's rigid training methods, each of the girls had a tight and muscled body comparable to that of a fifteen-year-old professional athlete.

Harry in turn had likewise achieved an impressive looking body for someone his age and despite his embarrassment at it, he couldn't deny that his boxers were getting pretty tight at seeing his girls dressed like this.

"Wow," was all he could mutter at the sight and to his delight, the girls climbed in the bed as they were and with Fleur and Hermione pressed against him on either side, Ginny made the adventurous decision to try and lay directly on top of Harry.

As soon as she lay down, she turned bright red as she felt something in Harry's boxers poking her in her stomach. Deciding to ignore it, she blushed heavily and tried to find a position where she didn't feel it. After they were all comfortable, they cuddled up together and quickly fell asleep.

XXX LEMON AHEAD XXX

Aurora and Gabrielle were quick to make their way to their own room where they found a very enticing sight waiting for them. Laying in the middle of the bed was Francine dressed in only a few scraps that would have to pass for clothing. A bra that left her nipples bare and a thong with the crotch cut out of it.

"What took you so long," she whispered innocently, "I have been waiting for hours, and I'm all cold now."

Aurora and Gabrielle shared a single lustful look before they quickly undressed themselves. When they were naked they joined the Veela on the bed, immediately latching themselves on her pink nipples teasing the crossed bars that were pierced through each of them with their tongues.

Sighing in pleasure, Francine's hands wandered down the bodies of Aurora and Gabrielle caressing their way towards their clits and tweaking the rings through them. Both moaned in pleasure at the sensation, releasing the nipples for a moment.

To give the other's easier access to their bodies, they moved to form a triangle with Gabrielle moving downwards to Francine's centre and Aurora moving up to start nibble on her neck, leaving small hickeys in her wake.

When she reached her mouth, Aurora pressed her tongue into Francine's mouth and started to caress her tongue, immensely enjoying the added sensation of the trio of barbells as they rubbed over her own.

"Mhmm," she mouthed softly, "You were right Sinny, I do love those barbells."

Francine grinned at that, both at her nickname and because she was right. "I know right, so when do you want me to put in yours?"

Aurora looked up a naughtily before looking down at Gabrielle. " _You felt that as well right? Can you imagine how those would feel when I'm eating you out?"_ Before Gabrielle could reply though, Francine moved her hand to her pussy and started to play with her clit ring again.

" _Ohh gods yes, I can't wait."_ Gabrielle moaned at the idea of having those barbells rub over her clit and lower lips. After some caressing, she came right then and there as Francine's fingers pushed their way into her pussy and found her g-spot.

Turning back to Francine, Aurora moaned softly, as she felt Gabrielle finish her orgasm and start to nibble on her clit ring, before answering her question, "As soon as we're done, and you're doing the both of us."

Gabrielle moaned her agreement, to preoccupied with licking up the wetness that was leaking out of her wife's pussy. While said wife was doing the same to Francine. Aurora used the rings in Francine's outer lips to open her up and she pushed her tongue into her centre. She transformed her human tongue into that of her dragon form, pushing it in a good five inches and wriggling it around, occasionally hitting the g-spot.

"I'm cumiiiiiiiiiiiiing." Francine's last word was stretched out as Aurora's actions brought her to orgasm and after several convulsions, she fell backwards on the bed. Followed shortly by Aurora, who was brought to her own climax by Gabrielle's ministrations.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Francine continued with their 'fun' for several hours before they finally settled down under the blankets, too tired to do anything else, they curled up together with Francine in the middle.

XXX END OF LEMON XXX

The next morning Harry woke up with a very pleasant pressure on his chest. As he opened his eyes he was met with a bush of red hair laying on his chest, causing him to break out in a smile. When he tried to move his arms, he found that he couldn't. Hermione and Fleur had crawled up close to him and were laying on top of his arms, with one of their own arms meeting across Ginny's back.

Carefully and very slowly, Harry freed first his left arm and then his right, making sure not to wake the girls as he did so. When he moved his right arm from underneath Hermione's side, his hand caught on the fabric of her new bra and the pull on the garment caused her to wake up.

Harry gave her an apologetic smile before kissing her. "That is some way to wake up," Hermione sighed, unconsciously licking her lips as she did so, before cuddling into Harry's side and dozing off again.

Harry stayed as he was for half an hour more, very much enjoying the feeling of their mostly bare bodies on his own, before Ginny started to stir, waking both Fleur and Hermione as she did so.

When they were all awake, they put on their bathrobes and made their way to the room of Aurora and Gabrielle, to see if they were awake yet and to find out what their plans were for the day.

As soon as they arrived, Harry opened the door and entered, the girls hot on his heels. Seeing as the curtains were still closed, it was pitch dark in the room so Ginny went to the windows and opened the curtains.

To their immense surprise, when they looked at the bed they all saw not two figures laying beneath the covers but three. Harry and the girls looked at each other in confusion, until Fleur, who was still the most capable with her Veela side, sensed a fifth Veela in the room.

As they walked to the bed they indeed saw the distinctive silver blond Mohawk braid of Francine nestled in between the silver and black of Harry's moms. Upon seeing that the kids shared a look with an equal red face shared between them as they realized what the reason for Francine's presence was.

They slowly retreated back to the door, but on the way Harry's foot got caught on a loose pair of jeans laying on the floor and he slipped, falling on his rear. The sound, combined with the light streaming through the open curtains was enough to wake up the trio of women in the bed.

"Hmm, morning," Aurora yawned while stretching herself, revealing a whole lot of hickeys on her neck and shoulders running further down under the blankets.

"Morning mom," Harry said a little apologetically, startling the trio in the bed, who hadn't yet realized that the kids were the reason they had woken up.

Looking up rather sheepish, the three women turned to the direction of the kids and were very careful to keep the blankets tugged securely to their chins. "Hey kids," Aurora and Gabrielle said at the same time, but before either of them could say anything more, Harry raised his hands and said,

"I do not want to know," before he turned around and walked out of the room, followed by the girls, who each carried a similar blushing expression on their faces.

Fifteen minutes later, Aurora, Gabrielle and Francine came walking into the kitchen, all fully dressed and sat down besides the others who were seated around the breakfast table. The quartet had told Dan and Emma what they had seen and all six looked at the three women. Luna hadn't been told but she knew something was up none-the-less.

"Had fun last night?" Dan asked with a large grin on his face, causing all three to turn bright red while they sat down. As he looked at Francine Dan added, "So what have you added this time? Or is it something a little more private?"

At this, the kids all looked up curiously and Dan explained, "As far as I know, she has slept in the manor 3 times, and each time they had some new decoration the day after, so I'm curious what they have added this time."

All looks turned at Aurora and Gabrielle who both stuck out their tongues. Aurora had three barbells, in an inverted triangle with two at the front and the third in the middle behind them. Gabrielle had two barbells in a line one after the other behind a golden ring that was placed at the tip of her tongue. After they had been done with their 'preliminary activities' last night, Francine had summoned her piercing tools and put in the piercings, which they then continued to give a very thorough trail run.

"Cool," Dan said before he looked at Emma and asked with a grin, "Give you any ideas dear?"

Emma glowered at him and whispered clearly audible, "There are children around Dan, that is not something to discuss in their presence."

With a deadpan expression on her face Hermione replied, "Mom, we do know about those things, we're not stupid you know, besides, being a Veela comes with quite some instinctual knowledge."

Now it was Emma's turn to blush as all the others burst out laughing. Shortly after Luna said very seriously, "Would you like me to tell you how long it will take for you four to start having sex?"

Fleur, Gabrielle and Emma were just taking a drink when Luna said this and their orange juice and tea flew over the table when they again burst out laughing until they realized she was dead serious.

"How… how could you know that Luna?"

Luna smiled innocently at Fleur's question and said, "I don't know it, but anyone with eyes can see that it gets harder everyday for you four to keep your hands of off each other. I think it is a very safe bet to say that it will happen within the next year or so."

Both Dan and Emma had to swallow at the realization that their little girl was quickly becoming a grown woman in both body and mind, despite her young age.

Noticing his parents in law's unease, Harry said, "Dan, Emma, I don't know what I can tell you to put you at ease, but let me say this. Hermione, Fleur and Ginny are everything to me, they are my reason for living and I would never, ever, deliberately harm them. I promise you, that when the time comes, we'll all be as careful as we can."

Harry was rewarded for his words by a loving kiss from all three girls and a thankful expression from Dan and Emma.

Besides them they heard a few small sniffs coming from Luna before she started to cry softly. Both Harry and Ginny got to her first and put an arm around her shoulders. Ginny asked carefully "Are you okay Luna? What's wrong?"

"You… you guys are so happy together. But I… he… me." Now Luna burst out in tears as she pressed herself against Ginny. At the other side of the table Aurora and Gabrielle had a slightly problematic mental discussion.

" _We can't let this go on Gabby, it's destroying her."_

" _I know but what can we do about it. Short of wiping her memory of the entire affair, and I refuse to mess with her mind, I don't know what we can do about it."_

" _Yea, me neither, I really wish there was something we could do to help her. We got through it by burning up our anger and sorrow on Mordred's army, but that is not a viable solution for Luna."_

They were silent for a while as they both pondered the question until Aurora said, _"Maybe we should look into helping Luna with finding her animagus form, the full moon is in two days so that would work out."_

" _That might actually be a good idea, if she successfully connects with her animal side, then depending on the animal, it might help her to work through it."_

" _It's worth a try, we'll do it at Hogwarts, Sarah's wards will prevent another fuck-up like with the kids. It would also probably be a good move if we were present during the whole thing, I'm not trusting Sirius with handling another animagus ritual on his own."_

" _So true, I'll ask Remus and Minerva to be present as well, the more experience that is present, the better it will be."_

" _Then we are decided?"_

" _We are decided, you go round up Minerva, Remus and Sirius, I'll inform the kids."_

" _I'll do that, but aren't we are forgetting something. Xenophilius, Luna's dad. Shouldn't we at least let him know where his daughter is?"_

" _I believe he already knows, Minerva said that Flitwick had informed Xeno that Luna was going home with friends. And besides, ever since Pandora died, he hasn't been completely right in the head, spending most of his time in Sweden looking for some vague mythical creature. I don't think he would mind terribly much if we would offer taking over the guardianship for Luna and letting him visit whenever he is in Britain."_

" _All right, you take care of that as well, and I'll visit with Amelia to see what we must do to make it official."_

Gabrielle nodded softly and mouthed, ' _You go on', I'll tell the kids."_

Aurora nodded and stood up, having already finished her breakfast. She gave Gabrielle a kiss and sneakily pinched Francine's perfect behind before saying goodbye to the others with the excuse that she had to do some things before she reminded Dan that they had a meeting with Anderson later that afternoon.

With a last wave, she left the kitchen, leaving Gabrielle to explain their idea to the kids.

Author's note:

So, there you have another chapter. I know some of you might be disappointed about the lack of story progress in this chapter but I just wanted to show a different and more wilder side of Aurora and Gabrielle, as well as continue with my plans for Luna.

Also, please let me know what you thought of Francine, because I had a lot of fun coming up with her, just picture it, a punker/metalhead Veela, the fun those three must have had…

Anyway, please review and let me know what you think.

Till next time,

MM


	28. Chapter 28

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 27

As Aurora and Gabrielle walked towards Anderson's office, they thought about what had happened in the last few hours. Remus and Minerva had readily agreed to be present for Luna's ritual, and Remus had said he still had the ingredients they had used for the 'Fenrir incident'.

Amelia had informed Aurora that Luna's case was rather easy, seeing as she still had a living parent and that parent was a magical, all that was required was for Xenophilius to sign a standard guardianship form. The fact that Harry had adopted her into their family would automatically turn that guardianship into an adoption and so make Luna officially a part of their family.

Gabrielle had likewise had an interesting morning as she had explained the situation to the kids and after Luna had agreed, they had flamed to Sweden where they had soon found the location of Xenophilius' camp. To call it a mess was an understatement and when she met him, Gabrielle could not deny that if he had been a muggle, he would have been immediately relieved of his parental duties.

His robes were torn and dirty, his hair was an unkempt mess and he obviously hadn't washed himself in quite some time. Despite all this, he clearly did care about Luna and when she came in his eyesight, he immediately ran towards her and gave her a hug.

It took some convincing on Gabrielle's part, but Xenophilius signed the guardianship papers, realizing that it would indeed be in Luna's best interest to have a stable and secure home and family.

After Xenophilius had signed, he said goodbye to Luna before returning to his work, seemingly utterly convinced that he was but days away of finding the location of something he called a, 'Crumple-Horned Snorkack,' which she knew for a fact to never have existed.

Afterwards she and Luna had brought the papers to Amelia who promised to take care of it from there. Upon returning to the Manor, they had brought Luna to the quartet, who would spend the day at the beach with Emma and Ilona, who had brought James and Natasha with her. This being her little girls' first introduction to the phenomenon of a beach, she had brought Kreacher with a video camera and asked him to document the entire experience.

When Aurora and Gabrielle entered Anderson's office, they saw the rest of the upper echelon already present. Anderson, Zhukovo, Woolsey, Dan, and Boltrock were sitting around Andersons' desk. The other three colonels, William Moore, Vladimir Azov and Wilhelm Wolff were seated on the couches in the sitting corner of the office along with Ivan.

"Good afternoon gentlemen," Aurora said not to strictly when she and Gabrielle stepped into the office. All men immediately stood up and saluted them before retaking their seats, Aurora and Gabrielle sitting down in their customary seats directly in front of Anderson, which had been kept free by the others.

As they sat down they immediately noticed the scowl on Anderson's face and with a raised eyebrow Gabrielle asked, "What's up Anderson?"

Anderson sighed and replied, "You had best ask them that." While he nodded to Boltrock, and Woolsey.

Now turning to said goblin and admiral, Gabrielle lightly raised her eyebrows and Aurora looked on with an amused grin, surly this would be great to hear.

To their surprise, Woolsey actually looked a little embarrassed but Boltrock was not even a little uncomfortable when he replied with a toothy grin, "A few weeks ago, Woolsey received a message from Thomas O'Neill. Apparently, USAF had a squadron of 16 AC-130A gunships that were in need of replacement, and he offered to hand them over to us for a bargain price.

Woolsey was a bit unhappy with your refusal to allow him to equip the MPACS' with jetfighters, so he asked me if I could figure out a way for him to use those babies on the MPACS' and to ask Anderson if it was okay. Needless to say, I got so caught up in the project that I forgot to inform Anderson until I showed him the prototype this morning."

Contrary to what most of the others were expecting, neither Aurora nor Gabrielle seemed very upset by the news that Anderson's authority had been undermined. Instead they both looked intrigued and Gabrielle asked curiously, "How in Merlin's name did you get a bloody AC-130 to lift off from an Aircraft carrier? The runway isn't even a third of the required distance for safe lift-off for a gunship."

With a savage grin Boltrock pulled a folder out off a pouch on his belt and pulled several schematics from it. Spreading them out over the table he started his explanation. "A Standard AC-130A, has four Allison T56-A-15 turboprop engines with 4.910 SHP each. I replaced them with four Rolls-Royce T406 Liberty engines with each 6.000 SHP. You might know those engines as they are the ones used by our brand-new V-22 Osprey's."

With a toothy grin Boltrock witnessed the realization dawn on Aurora and Gabrielle's faces until Aurora gasped, "You turned them into VTOL's?"

Boltrock nodded and replied, "Amongst other things. I also made them foldable. The wings can be detached and then you can split the fuselage in half, allowing them to fit on the elevators and be brought below decks when not needed.

I also updated the armaments. The original AC-130A carried four 7.62 mm GAU-2/A miniguns and four 20 mm M61 Vulcan 6-barrel Gatling cannons. I put in some of my new toys, two 10 mm rapid fire Railguns, one 40 mm rail-cannon and to top it off, one x 120 mm Rail-cannon, all with Hellfire rounds. Optionally they can also be equipped with wing-mounted AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles launchers."

Seemingly as an afterthought he added, "O we also have the Mammoth production line up and running with a current capacity of five per week. The mark 7's program is still running on schedule and the Mark 9 program is nearly completed, we just need to find a way to properly integrate the guiding system for the grenade launcher into the helmet's interface, but that's just a matter of time."

"That is excellent to hear Boltrock, but please be a bit more respectful of the chain of command next time. We put Anderson in command for a reason so the least you can do is follow proper protocol about these kinds of things."

Boltrock took Aurora's chastising with a blank face before he bowed slightly and replied, "Of course my Lady, I shall endeavor to do so the next time."

With that cleared up the meeting then turned to what had happened at Hogwarts and in what manner it might influence their preparations for war.

"What are you going to do with the snakes' corpses?" Colonel Wolff asked once they were all informed off what had happened.

"Sell them," came Gabrielle's reply. "Basilisk parts are extremely rare and valuable potions ingredients. We'll keep two of them for our own use, but the rest we'll have sold on the international market by the goblins. All damage considered, they should bring up between 40 and 50 million Galleons total."

"That's all good and well," Colonel Azov said, "but what are we going to do about the Ministry? That idiot Fudge can cause a whole lot of trouble if he wants to."

"Let him," Aurora growled in reply. "I have a lot more influence in both the UN, the U.N.S.C and the ICW. He can't touch us on an international level and my position as the Head of a Founding Family grants me immunity from persecution in Great Britain, so the most he can do is make a fuss and try to use the Wizengamot to do what he can't do on his own."

"But still," Anderson now cut in, " _You_ are immune, that does not count for the rest of us, nor for Gabrielle, or the rest of your family, we're gonne have to be careful. He is still the Minister for Magic, and if he starts digging in what that position means, he'll discover that his position gives him the authority to go around the Wizengamot and do things by Ministerial decree. And that means he _can_ do some nasty things to us."

"We're just gonne have to take it one thing at a time," Gabrielle decided. "We'll see how he reacts to us withdrawing our support, as he has no idea of just what that really means. We have connections on levels he can't even imagine."

"What does it really means then?" Colonel Moore asked curiously.

In reply Anderson threw that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet on his desk. "Read it out loud please."

Colonel Moore did as he was asked and unrolled the paper. Immediately his attention was drawn to the front page article that covered a good deal of the page beneath a series of photographs. The first showed Aurora and was taken during her very short press conference last Christmas after the 'cleansing of the Wizengamot'. The next showed Hogwarts castle from a distance and the last was Fudge giving some impassionate speech.

He began to read the article out loud as he was asked so the others could all hear him.

 _HEAD OF FOUNDING FAMILY BLAMES MINISTER FOR MAGIC._

 _In a shocking turn of events, the attack of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry has gotten a troubling after effect as High Lady Aurora Emrys apparently blames Minister Fudge for the attack._

 _In a declaration given to this paper the High Lady said the following. "Minister Fudge is co-responsible for this horrific attack because he took an obviously very dark magical artifact, from the DMLE safe evidence storage, and gave it to the fraud Gilderoy Lockhart._

 _The artifact then possessed Lockhart and used him to smuggle no less than 7 basilisks into the school. How this is possible I do not know since_ _Headmaster_ _Dumbledore has so far refused to give either me or my wife access to the Hogwarts wards. Furthermore, I firmly believe that this attack could have been prevented if the Board of Governors had not been so stupid to fall for the lies of a_ _fiction_ _writer._

 _Using my powers as the Head of a Founding Family, I have dismissed the current Board and have already begun forming a new one. Since none of the previous members actually had a child still at the school, I believe that they were not completely committed to its safety. In order to prevent this from happening in the future, I will be choosing the new members of the Board from those families who do have at least one child at school and I will be in direct conference with_ _Deputy_ _Headmistress McGonagall in naming these members._

 _On the matter of the Minister, when I confronted him with the evidence he refused to believe it. When I showed him that the auror responsible for 'convincing him' to give the artifact to Lockhart, was in fact a Death Eater, he still refuses to believe that Voldemort is not dead. Even when I told him that more than a 1000 students and staff members saw me exorcize his spirit from the body of Quirinius Quirrel last school year, he still refused to acknowledge the truth. So if he is so determined to ignore me, then we shall see how he will manage without my support."_

 _What this will mean for the school will remain to be seen but the effects for the ministry have become painfully clear already. The High Lady has officially withdrawn her support from Minister Fudge's administration and the results of that are clear._

 _Gringotts has begun reclaiming all loans owed by the ministry to the House of Emrys, according to rumors to be totaling at over 15 Billion Galleons including interest._

 _All ministry-led organizations that received financial backing from the House of Emrys, have been cut off from that support._

 _On an international level Magical Britain has been blocked from attending the ICW and our diplomats in the United States, Russia, Germany, France, China, Italy and Switzerland have been ordered to leave the country within the next 12 hours._

 _When asked for a reply to why this was ordered, President of the United States, Thomas O'Neill had the following to say. "I have known the High Lady Emrys for more than a decade and I have the utmost trust in her. If she says that Voldemort is not dead, than he is not, and as long as Fudge continues to deny the truth, he shall have no help from me whatsoever. Should he finally open his eyes and publicly acknowledges the truth, and make his public apologies to the High Lady, we are of course more than willing to resume our previous manner of cooperation."_

 _The President of Russia, Vasily Rostock, was likewise asked for his reasons and he gave the following reply, "The Death Eaters have been causing trouble in Russia for more than a decade now, so I wholeheartedly support any and all actions taken to counter, or preferably, neutralize the danger they pose to both the magical and the muggle world. I_ _too_ _have received eye-witness accounts of the exorcizing of Voldemort's ghost from the body of a teacher of Hogwarts and if he is able to do so, than he is obviously not dead."_

 _The other government leaders have so far refused to give a comment besides, "If Fudge acknowledges the truth and publicly apologizes, we shall resume our previous manner of international cooperation."_

 _Minister Fudge had so far yet to respond but one thing is certain, if he is smart, he will do as they demand or he shall pass into the history books as one of the worst Ministers for Magic Britain has ever had._

 _For the Daily Prophet, this was Rita Skeeter._

"How the hell did you manage to do this?" colonel Moore asked with a little awe in his voice.

"We called in a few favors," Aurora replied with a grin. "There is hardly any country in the world that does not owe us at least a few favors and since we are responsible for Britain's recognition of the American independence, Thomas needed little prodding to do as we asked."

"Indeed," Gabrielle agreed with her wife's words. "I expect Fudge to come crawling back to us within a few days and though he will be very pissed about it, hopefully this will make him realize that we are a lot more influential on an international level than him. Let's hope it will make him a little more responsive to our advice in the future."

The men all agreed with this and shortly afterwards the group disbanded, as no more matters remained for them to discuss. Aurora had ordered Boltrock to have 4 working versions of the AC-130A's, which she had nicknamed 'Project Reaper', before the sea trials for the MPACS, which were scheduled for next summer.

When they returned to Potter Manor, Aurora and Gabrielle decided to change into their swimwear before eating and asked the elves to bring dinner to the pool room. When they arrived at the pool, they couldn't help but stop for a moment and look upon what they saw.

James was playing with his little sister in the shallow water at the beach while his mother and Kreacher, who was wearing a very fashionable silver-colored Speedo, sat in the sand nearby and where taking photo's and were filming everything.

Further in the water, the kids had managed to create a raft from the logs that had originally been intended to be used for the campfires. Harry, Hermione and Fleur were playing in the water, while Ginny and Luna were chatting merrily on the raft.

They joined Ilona and Kreacher on the beach and watched the children until dinner was brought in by the elves.

That evening and the better part of the next day was spend around the pool with no one doing much of anything. Except when Neville came by for their work-out, which they replaced by swimming laps around the lake while being joined by Luna.

They had dinner at 17:00 because they would be leaving for Hogwarts at twilight to begin the preparations for Luna's ritual. They hadn't informed Neville of their plans but just said that they had other plans that evening which is why they had moved their work-out to the afternoon.

Upon finishing dinner, they took the floo to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, and from there they walked towards the gates of Hogwarts. They found Sirius, Remus, Dora and Minerva already waiting for them at the outer edge of the wards, which Sarah had put back up after the castle had been emptied of the students' belongings.

"And Miss Lovegood, are you looking forward to tonight?" Minerva asked with a kind smile she rarely showed in class.

"Ehh, it's Emrys now professor." Luna said with a mixture of pride and anxiousness, while showing the professor her new ring.

Minerva looked up with surprise upon seeing the ring and hearing the name, and looked between Aurora and Gabrielle with a raised eyebrow. "Is it now, how did that happen?"

"I adopted her into the family." Harry replied while putting his arm around her shoulder, "After what happened, she needed a family that could ensure her safety, and the Emrys name is one of the most powerful names there is."

Minerva nodded approvingly and said, "I am glad that you now have a safe place to call your home. But you haven't answered me, are you looking forward to tonight?"

Luna nodded and said softly but enthusiastically, "I am. The others have told me much about how it feels to be able to let your inner animal out and be free. I want that to."

"Good," Minerva replied with a small smile and she let the group towards the field next to the black lake. "I thought this would be a fitting location, seeing as we don't know the animal, it allows for all possibilities, whether it needs water, land or air."

The others all agreed and together, Remus, Sirius and Minerva started the preparations for the ritual. With a wave of her wand, Minerva conjured the familiar circle of torches and then continued to light them by hand helped by Dora, as Remus and Sirius were creating the pattern from the powder they had left from the quartet's ritual.

They were working on it for nearly fifteen minutes before they were ready, in the meantime one of the Hogwarts' house elves had brought out Sarah's painting from Emrys Tower and placed it on a stand on the grass. Luna had already changed before they left the manor so she removed her thick outer robe to reveal the thin white robe she would wear during the ritual.

In the meantime, Aurora and Gabrielle were once again having one of their mental debates.

" _We can't force this on her love,"_ Gabrielle said.

" _We won't force it on her at all. I'm just saying that we should at least give her the choice. She is our daughter now Gabby, and I'll be damned before I sit around and watch her age, wither and die."_

" _We won't have to, once the kids get the Philosophers Stone, she can use that."_

" _And how will that help her, she'll be depended on the Elixir for the rest of time and it won't strengthen her any bit. Whether we like it or not, she's going to be a part of this war, just like the others, and we can give her the means to greatly increase her changes of coming out of it unharmed."_

" _I don't like this Rora, it feels like we're getting to dependent on this power we have. It's not natural to tamper with human life as we do. We did the others because we had to, but now we don't."_

" _Don't we? How do you think she will feel if she sees her brother and sisters face the decades without aging while she slowly withers away by the gears of time. We're going to give her the choice Gabby, and it will be up to her to decide."_

" _Fine, but if she declines, you are not going to push her. Agreed?"_

" _Agreed, and you do the same if she accepts."_

Having reached an agreement both woman turned to the five kids. "Luna," Aurora began, "we need to talk before we begin."

The kids looked up curiously as they had not been expecting the serious look on both their faces and the tone in Aurora's voice.

"What about?" Luna inquired with a little hesitation.

"About why Aurora and I do not age." Gabrielle replied. "You probably know already, but neither me, nor Aurora, nor Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny are fully human. With Aurora and I even less than those four, since we gave them what we have to change them into what they are now."

"You mean about the fact that you two are part Elder Dragon and you gave your blood to those four to help them make stronger and to save their lives?"

Luna's reply shocked all six of them and when Aurora and Gabrielle turned to the quartet, they all raised their hands and Harry said quickly, "We didn't tell her anything."

"They didn't have to," Luna added softly, "I knew what you two were ever since the broom party at Weasley Manor. The night after that I had a dream about you two and about what had happened to you."

This caused a shocked silence to fall on the ground as Sirius, Remus, Dora and Minerva had also heard Luna's words and were now walking closer to sate their own curiosity.

"Why didn't you tell us Luna?"

Gabrielle's question was asked so softly that only Luna and her wife could hear her. "Because I don't want your pity," Luna replied equally soft. "I want you to love me for _who_ I am, not for _what_ I am."

Aurora couldn't contain herself and pulled Luna against her chest. Whispering into her ear she said, "Sweetie, we love you unconditionally, and the choice is yours to make. We will love you no matter what you decide, we are simply offering you this chance, and if you turn it down now and regret it later we can do it then."

Luna nodded silently and buried her head into Aurora's chest and hair while she thought about it. She remained silent for nearly half an hour, all the time not letting go of Aurora, nor even moving her feet.

"I want to do it." The whispered words brought a soft smile to Gabrielle's face as she looked at her wife and nodded her head.

Aurora slowly let go of the girl in her arms and kneeled down to look her in the eyes. "Are you certain about this Luna?"

Luna nodded her head softly and looking into Aurora's eyes she said, "Yes. this is my choice. My old life is over, and a part of me died with it. It is time for a new beginning, with a new family and a new life."

"Very well, then let's get to it. With the others, we did it before they went to sleep, so their bodies could deal with the change as they slept, but if we do it before the ritual, that will serve the same purpose."

Gabrielle's words brought out a determined look on Luna's face and she nodded. "How are you going to do it?"

"It's rather simple actually," Gabrielle replied, "Charles." Said elf immediately appeared when he was called and Gabrielle told him, "Will you please bring me _the dagger_." Charles nodded and he popped away.

Taking Luna's hands between them, Aurora and Gabrielle led the group towards the finished ritual circle and gently sat Luna down in the middle of it. The other all stayed out of the circle as Aurora and Gabrielle stayed with Luna and waited for Charles to return.

"Give me your right hand sweetie." Luna did as she asked and swallowed as she saw Gabrielle accept an ornate silver dagger from Charles when he reappeared. "I am sorry sweetie, but this will hurt."

Luna hardened her face and said harshly, "I know pain. _He_ taught me that much."

A single tear fell from Gabrielle's eyes as she nodded sadly and drew the blade across the girl's palm, Luna didn't even flinch as her skin was cut deep. Next Gabrielle used the blade to prick her own finger and that of Aurora. They both drop three drops of their blood into the open cut and as they landed, Luna's blood began to boil.

She didn't scream, or cry, or even showed any sign of feeling pain when Aurora and Gabrielle left her sitting in the circle, holding her bleeding hand in her lap.

As soon as they had cleared the circle, Sirius, Remus and Minerva began the incantation in ancient Greek, "We call upon the spirit of the moon, shine your light upon your image and reveal the animal within. Help this child on her path to discover who she is, so that she might use her powers for good."

At that moment, several things happened and Dora had an awful sense of déjà-vu as she saw the ritual go tits-up.

As the dome formed, golden flames erupted all over the circle, engulfing Luna and everything within the dome. In the sky they could hear the song of the Phoenix, as Fawkes dived down and landed in the circle the moment the dome closed.

Above them the full moon and the stars disappeared behind suddenly forming storm clouds that covered the night sky. Heavy rains started to poor down from the heavens as lighting started to fork from the clouds.

Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny fell on the ground and started to transform into their Fenrir forms. Sirius and Minerva likewise fell down and forcefully transformed into their animagus forms.

Aurora and Gabrielle also felt the urge to transform into their dragon forms but their iron wills were able to suppress the urge and they forced the instinct back into the background of their minds.

With an expression on their faces that mirrored the thunderstorm above them and a hint of their dragon forms in her voice, Gabrielle growled, "Sarah, what has that bloody bird of yours done?"

Sarah had turned a pale white and said quickly, "I… I don't know. He isn't listening to me."

"DAD'S FUCKING SHORTS." Aurora roared over the grounds and the black lake.

Until the dome shattered they could do nothing but wait and try to keep Sirius from eating Minerva as their instincts kicked in and he chased her across the lawn. The kids meanwhile where running around chasing each other while Dora and Remus stood in the middle of it all, not knowing what to do.

A sudden piercing shriek broke through the sound of the thunder and the dome exploded with golden flames and mist banks spread around the field. Fawkes launched himself into the sky and somehow, he seemed bigger and his colors where brighter.

A massive gust of wind broke through the mist and once they had cleared they finally beheld the animal that was responsible for the strange happenings around them. A massive bird stood within the circle of doused torches, easily the same size as Ragnarok. Its head was the size of a man's chest and it's feathers were a beautiful golden color with silver mixed within. It had three wings on either side of its body and two long plumes that went on 15 feet after its tail.

The golden eyes of the bird stared curiously around it until they fell on Aurora and Gabrielle and a questioning soft shriek left its massive beak. Aurora and Gabrielle were equally speechless at seeing the beautiful animal and immediately recognized it.

"Temmy?" they both asked surprised and upon hearing that word, the four Fenrirs stopped their game and looked at them before running towards them. From the looks in the Fenrirs' eyes they could see that Harry and the girls were, 'on vacation', and that Ragnarok and his sisters were once again occupying their bodies.

As soon as they reached them, Ragnarok started rubbing his head against the birds' neck and it replied the affectionate gesture in kind. In the distance, Sirius and Minerva were finally able to get their instincts under control and once they changed back into their human forms, they joined Remus and Dora and walked over to the small group.

" _TEMMY?"_ the voice of Melody was heard from the direction of the castle and her massive form came slithering at them at a record speed. Upon reaching them, Melody shrunk her body to six feet and slithered up the bird's back until she nestled herself amongst the feathers.

All the while the four humans were staring in awe until Gabrielle noticed their confusion. With a small grin she said, "Let me introduce to you, in order;

Tempestea, Guardian Spirit of the skies and storms.

Melody, Guardian Spirit of the land and the marches.

Ragnarok and the Valkyries, Guardian Spirits of the waters and the frozen plains.

Aurora, Guardian Spirit of fire and warfare."

"Gabrielle, Guardian Spirit of healing and magic." Aurora added and to the flabbergasted humans' growing amazement, a soft white glow, like the halo's seen on images of Christian saints, enveloped each of them as they were named.

"Remus, am I dreaming?" Dora asked her fiancé softly.

"If you are then we are all having the same messed up dream love."

"You're not dreaming Dora, you are looking at nine of the ten remaining Guardian Spirits, only Rubeon is missing, the Guardian Spirit of Nature and the forests." Gabrielle explained gently.

Dora nodded weakly and Minerva asked, "What… what kind of animal is she?"

"Her children spread out in two separate species, the larger ones who looked like her became known as Thunderbirds, and the smaller ones became the Phoenixes. She died nearly a thousand years ago, but just like the rest of us, she is the real one, the original one. Back in the day she was known as the 'Storm Goddess'."

"How did she die?" Dora's question caused a silence to fall over the group as the animals froze and slowly turned towards Dora.

"There is one thing you need to understand Dora," Aurora began, "As Guardian Spirits, we are incredibly powerful and very hard to kill, but we are not immortal. Ragnarok was killed when he had a spear lodged in his heart, Temmy was shot down with a crossbow before being buried alive under an avalanche."

The humans looked surprised at hearing that they could die, as according to the legends they had heard about the Guardian Spirits, they were immortal beings that had no worldly ending.

"But… but, what?"

Aurora slightly raised her eyebrows at Dora's question and said, "What kind of animal are Gabrielle and I you mean?" Dora nodded and Remus had to quickly catch her as both ladies changed into their dragon forms and she fainted on the spot.

Remus and Sirius were trying to wake up Dora while Minerva was staring in awe as for the first time in a thousand years, she was one of a few to witness to so many of the Guardian Spirits United. Aurora and Gabrielle had moved themselves to the water and left their heads on the grass, where the others gathered around.

When Dora was awake again, she took a few good looks before she was ushered away by Remus and Sirius who decided to leave and let the others have their privacy for as long as the night lasted. Minerva followed shortly after when she had sent Sarah's portrait back to the castle.

The rest of that night the nine magical animals spent in the same spot, talking about times long past and discussing what was happening in Britain at the moment.

When dawn returned and the light of the full moon waned, the four Fenrirs and the Thunderbird were pulled back to the afterlife, after having said goodbye to their still living friends.

Author's note:

So that's it for another chapter done and with this we come nearly to the end of year 2.

I know what I said about Luna not becoming like the quartet but I couldn't help it. And besides, she's not exactly the same as them as with the advantages of the blood pact, each of them individually is still a whole lot stronger than her. It is just my way of having her feel not left out within the family.

Please let me know what you think of the chapter and of Luna's animagus form.

The next chapter will show a time-skip to the last week before summer and an event I have had several questions about, the Philosopher's Stone.

Now I have to admit that I haven't quite filled in all of the challenges they will face and I need about two or three more, so if you feel creative, give me a PM with your idea and if I like it I might just use it. Of course, credit will be given to those whose ideas I would use. To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, here is the list;

Hagrid = Fluffy.

Sprout = open for suggestion.

Flitwick = taken.

McGonagall = taken.

Quirrel = taken.

Snape = open for suggestion.

Flamel = taken.

Dumbles = taken but open for consideration.

So good luck to you all and I'm hoping to hear from you.


	29. Chapter 29

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Chapter 28

Harry was struggling to get to sleep as he thought about what they would be doing the next day. It was finally time, they would finally be going after the Philosophers Stone. Trying to think about something else he thought about what had happened since that fateful night when Luna had her first transformation into Tempestea.

Two days after the article blaming Fudge had been published, said Minister for Magic had issued an article of his own, inviting Aurora to come to the Ministry to discuss matters in a civilized manner. The next day Aurora had indeed gone, bringing an escort consisting of, Ivan and Anderson with 12 Black Angels, all in EXO's. Though they had already been revealed at Hogwarts most of the magicals who paid attention to them thought it to be just a uniform. Thomas O'Neill and Vasily Rostock had also come both with their own security detail, and finally Queen Elizabeth with half a dozen MSS agents.

Aurora had refused to go all the way to Fudge's office so the Minister had been forced to make his way to the atrium. To his severe displeasure, he saw that the atrium was packed with reporters, both national and international.

With an expression normally associated with severe tooth ache, Fudge had made his public apology and given Amelia the order to found an auror taskforce with the goal of hunting down Voldemort. Later Amelia had confided in them that Fudge had given her a budget barely large enough to have two aurors looking for him on a part-time basis.

Aurora had reinstated her support to Fudge's administration and her financial backing to the various organizations that relied on it. As a requirement, she had stated that at least 10 of the 15 billion the Ministry owed her had to be paid before Christmas next year, with the remainder to be paid the year after that. If the Ministry failed to abide she had a signed order from the ICW and the UN to seize Ministry property and vaults until the debt was paid in full.

The new board of governors had been quick to reinstate Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks as the permanent DADA professors at Hogwarts and they had also limited Dumbledore's powers to such a degree that he was basically only fulfilling a ceremonial position.

Narcissa Black had accepted Gabrielle's offer and taken up a position as healer at Hogwarts and together with Madam Pomfrey, she had worked out a basic full medical exam that would be given to each and every student who began at Hogwarts to make sure they were healthy and not suffering from some hidden issues. To handle the full student body upon the re-start after the Halloween incident, Madam Pomfrey had enlisted the help of a dozen healers from St. Mungo's she knew from her time there.

Upon their return to Hogwarts, Luna had been given a room in Emrys tower, which Sarah had been generous enough to have the elves add while they were rebuilding the damage done to the castle. They had build an additional room above the one of the quartet, so Luna had an attic room, which she loved.

The room was perfectly circular, and a large part of the roof was made of glass, so she could see the stars at night when laying in her beautifully carved four poster bed. It had posts carved in the shape of standing eagles with their wings folded around their bodies. The carvings were fully bronzed and the sky-blue curtains were made of soft silk. The ceiling of the bed had a voice activated spell to make it transparent for stargazing.

Their training had also been stepped up a bit, now with the addition of Luna who had been brought to the same level as them thanks to a crash course by Gabrielle which left her with a splitting headache for nearly a week. They had finally arrived at a point which all four had been waiting for since they had begun their training, armed combat.

They had begun with combat knifes after Christmas and by the time the Easter holiday came along they had moved on to SILH handling in combat. During the holiday Hogwarts had been declared off limits to all students to give them the opportunity to train without having to worry about onlookers. Aurora and Gabrielle had set out an obstacle course in the Forbidden Forest which they had to overcome to begin the next phase, fighting in their Animagus forms.

During the course, they had to overcome a few obstacles which had to be done in their Animagus forms. For the quartet, it was climbing a cliff-side on all fours and chasing a trail scent which had been set out by Firenze and several other centaurs which led through half the forest.

Luna had to fly an aerial parkour around the Quidditch pitch and use her new powers over the weather to hit continuously smaller targets with lightning strikes.

Letting out a deep sigh as he finished reminiscing, Harry turned to the blonde on his left and snuggled his face into Fleur's long hair and tried to catch some sleep before it was time to get up. He felt a little relieved that the girls besides him had had no problem getting to sleep, so he would feel rested none the less.

It took him a little while more to get to sleep but eventually he did so.

At first light, the next day the quartet was woken by Gabrielle who opened the curtains, letting the sun shine directly into the room. When they were fully awake, Gabrielle looked down on them with a smile and said, "Get up kids, we have a surprise for you."

This effectively got the kids to get out of bed and they hurriedly got dressed while Gabrielle went a floor higher to wake up Luna, who would be coming along in a similar role as her adoptive mothers, that of a spectator.

When the kids made their way to the living room/private library, they found to their surprise that quite a few people were waiting for them. First of all were all eight of their parents, followed by Anderson, Ivan, and Boltrock, Nicolas, Perenelle, and Francine Flamel, and finally Queen Elizabeth herself.

They were standing before the only flat wall of the room which was covered by bookcases as were all the others. Behind the group they could see glimpses of a second group, who all appeared to be goblins.

"Ehh," Harry began as he was looking at the waiting group, "What's with the audience Mom, I thought it would be just you two, Luna and the Flamels watching us?"

"Surprise," Aurora said with a cheeky grin at the nervous looks of the quartet. She was fully aware that they were nervous for the day, and having a large audience would not be beneficial in that regard.

'SMACK', Gabrielle gave her wife a slap against the back of her head before saying to the kids, "Don't worry kids, it will be only the six of us looking at your performance, the rest are just here for a little ceremony."

"What do you mean 'a ceremony'? Ginny asked curiously.

As an answer, Gabrielle snapped her fingers and the group parted ways to reveal four sheet-covered objects.

"What are those?" Hermione, Fleur and Ginny asked at the same time as they looked at the unknown objects. Harry meanwhile was staring suspiciously at the knowing grins shared by Anderson, Ivan and Dan.

"Well..." Aurora began before growing very serious, "We never properly thanked you guys for stopping us at Halloween, if you hadn't… who knows what would have been left of this castle."

"Indeed," Gabrielle added her piece, "And since we kind'a destroyed your armor, it's only fitting that we should get you something to replace it with."

As she finished, four of the goblins pulled the sheets away and revealed what they had been hiding. Four, identical, dark grey Mark 7 Spartans, each with a symbol on the breastplate that none of them had ever seen before. Where the Black Angels had a red dragon head, these each held a circle with a wolfs head howling at a small full moon in royal blue.

A gob smacked expression took over each of the quartet's faces as they stared at the EXO's, clearly remembering what Aurora and Gabrielle had said last summer, the EXO's were for adults, not children.

"But, but, but you said," was all Harry could say and Hermione finished

"You said the EXO's were only for adults, and none of us are fully grown yet."

As in answer Gabrielle motioned towards Boltrock who cleared his throat and said, "With the help of Arthur Weasley I have found a way to put the same size adjusting charms we use on the SILH's to work on the EXO's, so to say it bluntly, they'll adjust to your current size and then grow with you."

"THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME!" Harry yelled as Boltrock's word got through to him.

"Language Harry," Aurora admonished him with a smirk before adding, "but you are right, it is fucking awesome, more so because now we don't have to make every EXO a custom fitting, allowing us to triple the number of Legionnaires we can outfit each week from 75 to 225. Which means that we have finished outfitting every Legionnaire and sailor in the Legion two weeks ago, giving our engineers the time to put these babies together."

"Indeed," Boltrock added when Aurora motioned for him to explain further. "These versions have a few tricks that the standard versions don't." He walked over to the EXO's and motioned for them to follow him. Once they were gathered around them he continued.

"In addition to the standard performance enhancing offered by the standard Mark 7's, these babies have a few other extras. Including, retractable grappling hooks on the outside of the arms, to help you climb objects and walls too high to jump on.

It has a foldable Heads-Up Display (HUD) with touch screen function in the left arm for displaying information and for relaying messages when radio silence in required.

In addition to the standard disillusionment charms, they are equipped with a camouflage function I invented by studying that Metamorphmagus engaged to Agent Lupin. You can choose from nearly 50 different disguises to allow you to mingle with hostiles without drawing attention.

And finally, as a last bonus, I gave these four suits an option to attach a foldable, and completely bulletproof shield to the left arm, which can be stored on the back when not in use. Just to give you a bit of extra protection when faced with muggle opposition or large numbers of cutting curses or the like.

So, what do you think?" he asked looking at the quartet with a face as if he expected them to bow down to him in worship, which they did close enough to satisfy him.

"This is so cool sir," Hermione and Fleur said at the same time and Ginny followed that with saying,

"How is it you always come up with these amazing things sir."

And Harry ended with, "Sooo, what's the next world shocking thing you are working on?"

Before Boltrock could start a tirade about the next project he was working on, Gabrielle cut him off with the words, "That's quite enough ass-kissing from you four, we got more things to do today, let's get you four suited up."

This caused the kids to look exited and Boltrock to grumble about being cut-off from his chance to brag about his own genius, but he went to work anyway.

With the help of a dozen of his assistants, he had the kids strip to their underwear, much to their embarrassment as the girls did not want to show what they were wearing to their parents.

A trio of nearly identical lacy and rather skimpy bra's and knickers were revealed, Hermione's were red, Fleur's were white and Ginny's were black. Every male human in the room was trying very hard not to look at any of the heavily blushing kids, whether they just happened to be their own daughter or not.

Luckily for Harry he had nothing to be ashamed of as Francine whistled softly as she saw his six-pack appear from beneath his shirt.

The kids were soon saved from their embarrassment when they were each handed a black form-fitting bodysuit that stopped at their wrists and ankles and they quickly put them on.

Following that was a somewhat uncomfortable moment as Boltrock had them each kneel before him one by one and ordered them to turn their backs to him and pull away their hair. What followed was something that no one had bothered to tell them was required to operate an EXO.

Harry was first and Boltrock placed a small round chip, roughly half an inch in diameter, on the topside of his neck, just under the hairline to keep it out of sight. He started muttering in gobbledygook and to his alarm, Harry found he suddenly couldn't move a single muscle in his body as he felt a searing pain in the back of his skull. What followed was a very painful and somewhat awkward spasm as every muscle in his body was tensed at the same time.

"What the hell is happening to him?" Hermione, Fleur and Ginny asked at once as they saw Harry in so much pain.

"The EXO control chip is connecting to his central nervous system," Aurora explained calmly. "Don't worry, it is not dangerous and it only lasts for about a minute. It is an unfortunate requirement to be able to operate the EXO's. The chip is what links the EXO to your brain by way of the main nerves that run through your spinal cord."

"Thanks for giving us a head's up beforehand mum." Harry muttered weakly when the spasms had stopped. "Way to surprise your favorite son."

"Don't flatter yourself Harry, you're our only son, and stop whining you shouldn't be feeling a thing anymore by now." Gabrielle's words were proven true as he had indeed full control of his body again without any sign of discomfort from the newly-placed chip.

The girls went next with only a little hesitation but they clenched their teeth firm and endured it bravely as unlike Harry, they had already seen what would happen to them.

The next step was the full body Kevlar suit. It was pitch black in color and one-third of an inch thick. It, like the bodysuit had a loose crotch-piece that could be removed to allow the wearer to relieve themselves if they had to, without the need to remove the entire EXO suit.

The final layer was the EXO itself, which, consisting of a multitude of separate parts, was attached to the Kevlar suit piece by piece until the power-armor covered their entire bodies save for their heads.

The titanium plates were over half an inch thick in most places and a full inch at the chest plate. They couldn't really be called comfortable yet, as they were to loose in some places and to tight on others.

When they were fully dressed, Boltrock went by them one-by-one and placing his hand on the place of the chip, he muttered a few words in gobbledygook. The suits began to magically resize themselves until they felt like a second and third layer of extremely tough skin.

Once that was done, they were told to stand up and try moving their bodies. The suits were flawlessly aligned, following the movements of their arms and legs without delay. Each individual finger was able to move on its own and when Aurora tossed Harry a log from the pile next to the fireplace, he was able to break it apart with little effort. The girls were tossed a log as well and were able to follow his example without any problem.

"This is so cool," Harry said with awe in his voice and the girls nodded their agreement.

"That's great to hear kids," Gabrielle said with a smile, "but here's the real kicker. It is the last Hogsmeade weekend so pretty much everyone is off to the village leaving only a handful of first and second years in the school, so here is your first trial for today. You four need to get to breakfast eat it and then get to the third floor, without drawing any attention to yourselves. Good luck." That last part she added with a grin and without saying another word she left the room.

The rest of the adults and the goblins all left the room and after wishing them good luck, they all went their own way. Luna stayed with the quartet and let a jealous look pass over the EXO's of her 'older sisters' and sighed, "You guys are so lucky, mom said I have to wait for at least a year more before I get an EXO."

The three older girls looked fondly at Luna and silently compared her to where she was half a year ago. Luna had changed rather drastically since that terrible Halloween's eve. Just like with them, she had hit her puberty shortly after the ordeal and her body began to develop far quicker than a normal child's. She now looked like a thirteen-year-old and the changes to her body were not just limited to advanced growth. Her Animagus form had also altered her looks a bit, her hair had gotten a soft golden glow over it like her feathers and her eyes had turned bright silver.

Her character had also changed a bit, giving her a more determined and serious mindset as compared to before Halloween. She was a bit harder and more prone to fits of rage which came in handy during her sparing sessions with the quartet as it compensated for their greater physical strength.

"Don't worry sis," Harry said with a grin as he put his arm around Luna's shoulders and used the new title the quartet had grown so fond of, "you'll get your own soon enough, just you wait."

Luna got a little cheeky grin before replying, "I know Harry, but in the meantime, I'm going for breakfast. Good luck you four." And with that she ran off towards the portrait that hid the entrance of Emrys tower.

As she left, the quartet realized what she said and the courage sunk in to their now armored feet as they thought about what they had to do. Their new EXO's might look really intimidating, but they were not exactly inconspicuous, and they had to get through breakfast _without_ drawing attention.

Deciding to give Boltrock's camouflage function a try they searched for a button or something to activate it, only to come up not finding it. Finally, it was Hermione who opened up the HUD and saw a small menu with several options including; Communications, Mission objectives, Map, and… Camouflage.

"Got it guys," she said excitedly as she opened the camouflage tab. A list of small images appeared on the HUD and she quickly scrolled through them until she found one that was conveniently labeled, 'Hogwarts' school robes'. As she selected it, she saw to her surprise and that of the others, that the dark metal turned to supple wool cloth in appearance but when she touched her sleeve, it was still cold, solid, metal.

"It's an illusion," Hermione said amazed and as the others tried out their own they were quick to agree. Once they all appeared to be dressed in the standard uniforms, they all made their way down to the Great Hall and Fleur said with a small smile, "Now we only have to make sure no one touches our 'clothing'."

The others were quick to agree and once they entered the Great Hall, they easily spotted Aurora and Gabrielle who were sitting at the head table with the Flamels. Francine had taken her cover appearance so as not to shock the first and second years. Perenelle was seated in Minerva's chair and Nicolas had dropped himself into Dumbledore's throne-like chair, forcing said headmaster to sit in Professor Sinatra's seat.

The Flamels were drawing a bit of attention, especially because it looked like Francine was the parent but she called the other two mom and dad. Aurora and Gabrielle talked softly with their guests and stole more than a few glances at the quartet.

Luna was already seated at her standard place with Neville, Hannah and Draco besides her. The rest of the gang was apparently having a sleep in, as they were nowhere to be seen in the Great Hall.

"Hey guys," Draco said cheerfully as they sat down and Neville and Hannah repeated the greeting. "So, what are you going to do today?" he asked after the quartet had sat down across from him and the others.

"Not much," Ginny replied casually, "Harry's moms had planned some kind of obstacle course I believe, so we'll just see where that goes. And what about you guys?"

"Well Neville and I are going to the greenhouses today, Professor Sprout has a new batch of Mandrakes and she asked if we wanted to help her re-pot them." Hannah replied and Draco said,

"Daphne and Tracey said they wanted to go for a fly at the pitch so I guess me and Blaise will join them there."

The quartet nodded and Draco asked, "What are you going to do Luna, are you gonne tag along with the rest or do you wanne come along with us to the Quidditch pitch?"

"I'm gonne go with them," Luna replied while she nodded towards the quartet, "I happen to know what my moms have planned and I do not want to miss those four going flat on their asses as they try and fail."

"Thanks a lot for the vote of confidence Luna." Fleur said with a little grumble and Luna stuck her tongue out in reply.

"I know what you are up against, you guys don't. Why do you think mom got you those new 'training clothes'?" As she saw their faces fall, Luna added with a somewhat unsettling grin, "Trust me, you're gonna need them."

The other three grinned along with Luna, though they thought it was just another normal obstacle course like the ones they had seen them tackle during their training sessions when they had been curious and watched them do them.

Luna's little pep talk had the result of destroying the appetite of the quartet and they looked a little sick as they stared into the plates of scrambled eggs and bacon before them. Seeing their looks Luna felt a little pity and said, "Come on guys, I was just kidding, it won't be that bad, mom said you'd be able to do it if you work together."

"Thanks Luna," Hermione mumbled, still not feeling any better than before, just like the other three.

The rest of breakfast was spent in silence as the other three could pick up on the fact that something else was going on, and they were not just anxious for a normal obstacle course. Hermione hadn't been this nervous for their exams a week ago, and in the eyes of the three, that was saying something.

When they were done eating, Harry and the girls having barely been able to finish their plates, they stood up with a sigh and said goodbye to their friends. Draco, Neville and Hannah each wished them good luck and Luna followed them, softly whistling.

The adults had left the Great Hall nearly ten minutes earlier and were already waiting for them when they reached the third-floor corridor.

"So, are you youngsters ready for this?" Nicholas asked with a little hesitation on his face, he knew what they would be facing and the trials were not to be trifled with. Personally, he and Perenelle had their reservations about them completing them, as the trials would be difficult for fully educated and proficient witches and wizards, let alone four second year students, no matter how powerful they might be.

Steeling their nerves, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny nodded tersely and Harry said, "Yes sir, as ready as we're ever gonne be."

Nicholas nodded and Aurora and Gabrielle stepped forward each holding their hands out and handing the kids their SILH's and combat knives. "Here, you forgot these," Gabrielle said softly and the four took them gratefully and placed them on the proper place on their new EXO's.

"Are you sure you know what to do about Fluffy?" Aurora asked a little concerned, "A Cerberus is an extremely dangerous animal."

The kids nodded and Hermione drew a flute from the pouch on her belt. "I may not be the best flute player in the world, but I'll manage well enough to get him to sleep… I hope."

Giving a small encouraging smile, Aurora said, "Just remember, if you don't think you'll be able to complete one of the challenges, just ask for our help, we'll be in the same room as you so we can intercede at a moment's notice."

The kids nodded again before Luna ran towards them and gave them each a crushing hug, "Good luck guys, I know you can do it." With those words in their ears, the quartet stepped towards the door and Hermione put the flute to her lips.

As Harry carefully opened the door, they could hear a soft growl coming from the other side and Hermione started to play. It was a simple tune that her mom had hummed to her and Harry when they were young, but it was enough. They could hear the growling lessen and within a minute, a soft snore came from within and Harry opened the door further.

They could see Fluffy laying on the floor, fast asleep. As they searched for the trapdoor, Ginny cursed softly when she found it, right under Fluffy's crossed front legs.

"Those feet must weight a ton," Fleur said softly and the other two nodded.

"Only one way to do this," Harry sighed. "You two grab the other side and I grab this side. We'll lift on three." The two girls took their place as Hermione kept playing to keep Fluffy asleep.

"1… 2… 3." On 3, all three put their mechanically enhanced strength at work and managed to lift first one of the massive paws and then the other until the hatch was clear. Harry pulled the hatch open and pulled out his wand, his real wand.

"Lumos," a massive burst of light shot out from the tip of his wand and illuminated a deep, deep fall. Looking up he looked at the three girls before him and said, "I don't know about you three, but I'm not very anxious to just jump down there."

The other three looked agreeing and Fleur was the first to move. "I'll go first," she said and lifted her left arm. Pointing it at the ceiling above the hole, she fired the grappling dart into one of the support beams and grabbed her battle wand with her right hand. imitating Harry she said, "Lumos," and lowered herself down into the hole.

For nearly half a minute she slowly lowered herself down until the light from her wand shone on what was on the bottom. "Hey guys, we've got a Devil's Snare down here, and it's a massive one."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other and then at Hermione, Ginny said, "We need to find a way to keep that flute playing while we all descend and use the Lumos Solem to burn the plant away and free the path so we can go on."

"Yea," Harry replied, "But how do we do that."

Hermione snapped her fingers to interrupt them and motioned for Ginny to take the flut from her and keep playing. During the few seconds that the music stopped, Fluffy twitched a bit but he went back asleep when Ginny started playing.

Hermione pulled out her own battle wand and said to the other two, "I think Professor McGonagall knew what we were going to do, she taught me this spell a while ago when I asked about something more advanced to pass the time. It's a conjuration spell that conjures an item you focus on, but it only lasts for a short while, half an hour at most."

Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes and thought very hard about what she needed right now. Aiming the wand at the floor next to the hatch, she spoke softly and very clearly. "Creatus,".

Slowly a phonograph materialized out of thin air and started playing a soft tune. Ginny carefully lowered the flute and to their relief, Fluffy stayed asleep.

"Nice thinking Mione," Harry said and he gave her a passionate French kiss in thanks.

"Yea," Ginny agreed and following Harry's example, she kissed Hermione as well.

Quickly the three shot their own grappling darts into the ceiling and lowered themselves into the hatch until they reached Fleur.

They all drew their wands and as one they said, "Lumos Solem," four bundles of concentrated sunlight lit up the dark hole and hit the massive plant covering the bottom. Where the bundle's hit the plant, the plant was burned away and slowly they cleared the plant away until a large enough hole was created for them to pass through.

They softly landed on the stone floor beneath the plant and once they released the tension on the grappling lines, the hooks on the darts released. The darts quickly rolled themselves back up until the dart slid back secure into the arm guards.

"Great job guys," Fleur said with a little excitement in her voice. "That's one challenge done, and I don't know how many left."

They suddenly heard a click coming from behind them and to their amazement they saw a door open out of the solid wall and out stepped the group they had said goodbye to outside the door.

"How did you get down here?" Ginny asked confused."

"We used the backdoor," Aurora said nonchalantly. "Or did you think Nicholas fought his way through these trials every time he wanted to check on the stone. Of course not."

"But why wouldn't everyone just use that door to get to the stone?" Hermione asked confused. "And why can't we use that one as well?"

"Because I'm the only one who can open the passage and I never told Dumbledore about it." Nicholas answered, "And as for you four not using it, I'm not just going to hand over that stone, you guys have to earn it."

"I guess that's fair," Hermione said while raising her shoulders a little, "So what's next for us?"

"Well let me give you a list of who contributed to the challenges." Gabrielle said with a grin. "You have dealt with the ones from Hagrid and professor Sprout, next is Flitwick, then McGonagall, Quirrel, Snape, Nicholas and then finally Dumbledore."

"Well then, let's get to it, shall we?" Fleur asked with a mixture of anxiousness and fear, and the others agreed. Time to face the rest.

Author's note:

Sorry for taking so long to update but I just haven't had time to write lately.

So that was part one, the rest of the challenges will be in the next chapter. If any of you has a suggestion for Dumbledore's challenge, then don't hesitate to let me know as I'm open to suggestion for that one.

See you all next time and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	30. Chapter 30

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Chapter 29

" _Well then, let's get to it, shall we?" Fleur asked with a mixture of anxiousness and fear, and the others agreed. Time to face the rest._

"So, it's Flitwick's next, right?" Ginny asked a little hesitantly. The short professor had a vicious dueling career and they were a little worried about what he would have come up with.

The other three nodded and followed by the five adults and Luna, they followed the hallway until they reached a solid wooden door. The door was locked and after Hermione had futilely tried an _Alohomora_ , Harry said with a small grin, which showed his fangs, "Step aside girls, this requires some male ingenuity."

The looks he got in reply were a mixture between insulted and skeptical, but they did as he asked none-the-less. He pointed his battle wand at the door and yelled, " _BOMBARDA MAXIMA."_ The solid wooden door was blasted clean off its hinges, along with the frame it hung in, and half of the wall. It soared through the next chamber and crashed into the opposite wall, which was about 250 feet away.

"That's not ingenuity Harry," Fleur scolded him with a slap to the back of his head, "that's just brute force."

"Hey, it's open isn't it," Harry defended himself while rubbing the spot Fleur had hit him.

As those two were bickering, Hermione and Ginny walked past them and entered the room only to stop a few feet in, their mouths open in amazement. As the other two joined them they got a similar expression as they looked at the room they found themselves in.

It was the size of a cathedral, with high arched ceilings and made entirely of grey stone. Amongst the pillars flew swarms of silver and golden birds. "What do we have to do here?" Fleur asked to no one in particular.

"Let's start with finding the next door," Hermione replied, "perhaps that will give us a clue as to what to do."

They split off and began to search along the walls but found nothing until they came upon the small mountain of rubble Harry's 'male ingenuity' had caused. "Do you think…" he began and the girls all nodded at him with a glare.

"Yes Harry, we think that is exactly where the door is." Ginny said chagrined.

"Don't worry," Hermione said calmly, "I can fix that easily." Aiming her wand at the pile she said, " _Wingardium Leviosa."_ The mound of rubble shot into the sky, some pieces hitting a few of the lower flying birds, and landed two dozen yards to the left, leaving the door clear for them to see.

As Harry, Hermione and Fleur were inspecting the door, Ginny heard something and when she turned around her face turned ashen. "Ehh, guys," she began softly but when they didn't respond she kicked harry against his leg, which hurt her more than him thanks to the titanium plates of his armor.

"What is it Gin?" Harry asked as he turned around but she didn't have to reply as he saw what it was. "GET DOWN," he roared and he and Ginny pulled the other two to the ground.

Above their heads was a series of crashes and half a dozen of the birds fell down before their feet. To their immense surprise the birds were made of metal and as soon as they hit the ground, they turned into large ornate keys. Looking back up they saw a second swarm of birds forming up for a charge and in a little panic, Hermione searched the HUD of her EXO for the shield option. Once she had found it, she tapped it hopefully, until the screen turned red with in black letters, 'Shield attachment not connected'. "Oh crap."

With panic on their faces the kids looked frantically around them for a way out until Ginny yelled, "Harry, blow the door out."

The girls dove away as Harry aimed his wand and he repeated the charm. Instead of replicating the results from earlier, the spell bounced of off a ward and was rebounded in the same direction. Harry was barely able to duck in time, feeling the spell soar through his hair. It continued on its way towards the group of onlookers. With a lazy flick of her finger, Aurora send the white orb of light towards the swarm of birds under the ceiling where it exploded.

Several dozen of the birds came falling down and Nicolas scowled at Aurora who replied innocently, "That was purely coincidental, I was aiming for the wall."

Both Francine and Perenelle where grinning behind his back as they turned their attention back to the quartet across the room.

"Keep those birds away while I think," Hermione said a little panicked and the other three took up positions to shield her from a third wave of birds that came soaring towards them.

Using _"Expelliarmus,"_ the trio shot the charging birds out of the sky while Hermione studied the door and the lock on it. The decorations on the door where all made of bronze and so was the lock.

"That's it," She said in triumph as realization hit her. "Guys, we need to find a bronze bird, that'll be the one which fits the lock." They all looked frantically around them until after about a minute Harry saw it.

"There, close to the corner on the left. But how are we going to get up there, our spells can't get that high unless…"

"We don't have to," Hermione interrupted him. Aiming her wand at the floor, she repeated the spell she had used to conjure the phonograph. " _Creatus,"_ A pair of Nimbus 2001's appeared out of thin air and she handed one each to Harry and Ginny. "Here, you two are the best flyers, shoot that bird down and Fleur and I will try to keep the rest away from you."

They did as she said and after just five minutes, Harry managed to hit the bronze bird and Ginny caught it as it fell down. Ginny sped downwards and tossed the bird to Fleur who caught it and slapped it against the floor, turning it into a key, before handing it to Hermione who slammed it into the keyhole and turned it.

The door swung open out of itself and after Hermione and Fleur where through, Ginny and Harry who were still chased by the remaining birds, chased downwards and into the open door, which the other two slammed closed behind them.

Being slightly impressed by their level of team-work, Nicholas snapped his fingers and what remained of the birds fell harmlessly on the floor, allowing the spectators to follow through the other door without any risk.

Once they were through the door, Harry and Ginny got off the brooms and left them on the side of the tunnel before they walked on.

The next room they entered was about half the size of the previous one and unlit. Lighting their wands, the quartet was surprised to see that the light didn't reach half as far as normal and was stopped by a row of towering objects.

Slowly they made their way towards the unknown objects. When they were about two feet away, light suddenly engulfed the room as large braziers were lit. Covering their eyes in surprise, they took half a minute to adjust before they were able to see the room they were in.

The objects appeared to be statues divided in two lines, one black and one white. When they looked at the floor, they saw a checkered pattern of white and black tiles, each 6-foot square. "It's a chessboard!" Fleur exclaimed as she realized what it was.

"So, what? Do we have to play our way across the room?" Ginny asked hesitantly, contrary to her little brother, she was a disaster at playing chess.

"Can't we just use the Harry method to get across?" Hermione asked wondering and the others shrugged.

"It's worth a try," Harry responded before raising his wand and aiming it at the nearest statue, the black king. "BOMBARDA _MAXIMA"_

The results where a bit more catastrophic than the other two times he had used that spell. The black king was blown to bits, but as soon as the first pieces hit the chessboard, the rest of the pieces turned around and came charging at them, weapons raised to strike.

They dropped their wands in a hurry and pulled out their SILH's. Quickly putting the switch at Hellfire rounds, they opened fire on the nearest statues. To their immense relief, the Hellfire rounds tore large chunks from the marble constructs. It took about two dozen rounds for each statue, but with their guns at semi-automatic, they tore through them with little problem.

They had to reload two times, which was saying a lot as each magazine held 50 Hellfire rounds and 50 normal .50 rounds, but eventually they managed to destroy all pieces. The last to fall was the white queen, and once she was down, they lowered their guns and sank down on the ground all four needing to get down from the immense adrenaline rush they had just endured.

Unknown to them, but clearly visible to the spectators, the first pieces they had destroyed slowly started to put themselves back together. After a few minutes, the quartet was slowly becoming surrounded by the reassembled statues. Both Aurora and Gabrielle were getting anxious but Nicholas' stern look and crossed arms stopped them from interceding.

Eventually it was Luna who broke the silence as one of the black knights raised its morning star in preparation to strike at Fleur's back. "WATCH OUT." She yelled through the silent room and the quartet looked up only to get the fright of their lives.

They scrambled away through the only remaining opening in the circle of statues, which led back to the door they came from and towards the spectators. Looking franticly around them, the quartet was slowly backed into a corner as the statues approached them. To their dismay, they had dropped their guns as they scramble away so they were effectively defenseless.

"Now can we intervene?" Aurora asked coldly and Nicholas nodded hastily, recognizing the black fire in their eyes.

In an identical motion, Aurora and Gabrielle raised their arms and a ring of blue fire surrounded the quartet. Blood red fireballs shot out of the ring and consumed each of the statues as they were hit, and soon the room was cleared.

Stepping forward Gabrielle spoke to the quartet, "It was a good effort kids, but not the way to do this. You have ten minutes until the room is reset, I suggest you gather your things and leave back into the tunnel and wait there. Once it is reset, you can try again." Putting her hand in a pouch, she withdrew a handful of spare magazines and handed them to the kids, "Here, you will probably need these in the trials yet to come."

They accepted them gladly and put them away, before they went to collect their guns and wands. They quickly made their way out of the room and back into the tunnel, closing the door behind them. The spectators stayed behind in the room, since their presence would not impede the reset process.

Ten minutes later the lights went out in the room and a noise indicated that the statues were back in place. "YOU CAN COME BACK NOW," Aurora roared towards the door and seconds later it opened and the kids came back in.

This time they decided to play the game, rather than trying to force their way through. Harry was the best player, so he climbed on top of the black king to get the best overview. Hermione took the place of the black queen and Fleur and Ginny took a knight and a rook respectively.

The match was a rather spectacular one with massive casualties on both sides. Fleur was the first of them to be taken, the white queen striking her in the side with her staff. Like a ragdoll, Fleur was thrown aside by the stone queen and though they felt her pain and the shared panic, they stayed on their places. Hermione quickly avenged her though, shooting the White queen in the head at Harry's direction when it was their turn again.

The second and last of them to fall was Ginny. The only remaining white rook took her unawares while she was eying a bishop that was dangerously close to her. With two of them out of the game, it fell to Hermione to make up the difference as Harry had to keep himself save to keep a chance of winning.

Three turns later Hermione shot the last white bishop and upon taking its place, putting the white king in a checkmate. As soon as the white king pulled his crown from his head and threw it before Hermione's feet, she and Harry rushed towards Fleur and Ginny. To their immense relief, the EXO's had more than proven their worth, absorbing the life-threatening blows and leaving nothing more than a bruise or two.

Both were quickly woken up again and seemed no worse for the wear, besides a few scratches on their faces, as the rest was stopped by the EXO's. After sharing a loving group hug and a few tender kisses, the kids turned towards the next door and walked through the remaining pieces, all of which bowed towards them as they passed.

Upon reaching the next door, Harry carefully opened it, only to gag and turn instantly green at the smell that welcomed them. It was much, much worse than when they had smelled it at Halloween the year before, but both he and Hermione recognized it instantly.

"Trolls," they said at the same time and Ginny paled instantly.

Fleur softly took Ginny's face between her hands and gave her a loving kiss on the lips. When she pulled back she whispered, "Time to pay them back for what they did to you."

Ginny got a more determined look in her eyes and nodded, "Let's do this." She put her wand back into its holster and drew her SILH. Baring her fangs, she said, "Let's go kill some trolls." The others agreed with similar snarls and pulled out their own guns.

Turning back to the door, they gathered around it and Ginny counted down. "3… 2… 1…GO." She kicked the door open and they all raised their guns. In the room before them stood a trio of mountain trolls, fully grown and a little disturbingly, dressed in crude, but thick plates of hammered iron.

Taking aim at the weak points in the armor, the neck, under the arms and at the hips, they fired and in short order, the trolls were reduced to a dozen, rather bloody, loose parts. Against ordinary witches or wizards, the trolls would have no doubt proven a real challenge as they were highly magic resistant, but science proved itself the master over magic in this case.

Quickly moving on, to get away from the intense stench, they hurried to the next room. Quickly slamming the door behind them, they were alarmed at the sound of breaking glass. Quickly looking around them they saw it came from a vial that was now releasing thick purple smoke.

"Uh oh," Hermione muttered as she recognized the smoke. "that is Drowsiness Draught. Quickly we need to contain it before it can influence us. Their efforts where futile though as within half a minute, the smoke had filled the room and taken hold over each of them.

Yawning heavily Fleur muttered, "Mi… Mione, I think it wo... would be best if we go to sl…. sleep and then may… maybe it will give you enough en… energy to figure out hooooow to get out of here."

"Yea," Harry and Ginny agreed before they all three curled up against one of the walls and quickly fell asleep. It had the result they hoped for as Hermione's head became a lot clearer when the others fell asleep thanks to the Blood-pact.

Taking a good look at the room they were in, she saw a table with nine bottles and a scroll. Taking up the scroll she quickly read it before letting out a groan, "Curse you Snape, why are you so good at this."

Walking past the bottle she muttered, "Okay, let me think, nine bottles; 2 with Befuddlement drought, 2 with Confusion Concoction, 1 with Babbling Beverage, 1 with Forgetfulness potion, 2 with Venomous Tentacula Juice and one with an antidote for the Drowsiness Draught." Softly muttering to herself, she walked up and down the table occasionally taking up one of the bottles and taking a careful sniff of its contents.

After five minutes, a sudden realization hit her. "O shit, even if we can get the antidote, how are we getting out of here?" It was as if the room was waiting for that question as suddenly a square wooden box appeared on the table with a second scroll laying on top of it.

She quickly picked up the second scroll and read it. _'The key to getting out of here, is hidden deep within me. Find the way inside, or be stuck forevermore._ '

Making a closer inspection of the box, she soon recognized the design, it was a Chinese puzzle box. Drawing her knife, she decided to take the 'Harry approach' and placed the tip of the knife on one of the open joints. Bracing the box on the table, she held the knife with her left hand and raised her gun with the right. She slammed the butt of the SILH on the knife and drove it deep into the wood.

She could feel the Goblin-forged steel breaking through the enchantments on the wood and she was sure that if she had used a normal knife, it would have shattered in her hands. Pulling the knife free of the wood, she placed it two inches to the right and repeated the move. This was enough to break the box open and a large silver key fell out.

Picking the key from the table, she walked over to the door and placed it into the keyhole. As soon as it slid home, a pair of vents opened on the ceiling and the remains of the Drowsiness Draught where sucked away. Soon after she was able to think clearly and to her full capacity again and in short order she was able to pick out the antidote. Administering it to her three friends, they quickly woke up and after giving Hermione a hug and a kiss in thanks, they continued on into the next room.

So far, they had faced what the teachers could throw at them, now however they were up against someone that was spoken off with respect by Aurora and Gabrielle, a feat that _very_ few people could boast of.

Upon entering the next room though, they were rather disappointed. The room they entered was decently sized, about the same as the one with the birds, but completely empty. The only thing of note was a watery ditch running from the left wall to the right wall of the room and appearing to be about 50 feet long. The water was deceptively calm and appearing to be almost a mirror.

As they slowly made their way into the room, they saw a second, smaller, door opening in the near right corner. From the door entered their spectators and even from the distance they were at, they could see the anticipating smirk on Nicholas' face.

"Are you sure they are ready for this dad?" Francine asked a little worried, "I know what you have done to the vault at home, and I can't reasonably see them breaking through that."

"Don't worry dear," Nicholas answered with a grin, "I have set this one to the non-lethal mode, so it will only be highly dangerous, and not lethal."

"Great," Francine replied with a look to Aurora, Gabrielle and Luna. "That's sure to go over smoothly with those three." Turning back to the quartet, they saw that they were approaching the edge of the water with an appropriate amount of caution.

"What do you think this is?" Fleur asked as she hesitantly approached the water alongside the others.

"Don't know," Replied Harry.

"Haven't a clue," Said Ginny.

"It's an Aqua-Habitat," Hermione answered with justifiable fear. "It works similar to our trunks, with it being much larger on the inside than on the outside and it is essentially like an iceberg, what we see is just the tip. It could run down below us for anything from a few yards to a few miles. But that is not the point. These things are mainly used for the breeding of large and exceptionally dangerous sea creatures."

"But why would anyone want to breed them at all if those creatures are so dangerous?" Harry asked Hermione, completely missing the point.

"Mainly for their incredibly rare and valuable parts. But that is not the point Harry, the point is that we do not know what awaits us as we attempt to cross. It could be a bunch of seahorses, or a Hydra."

"Ohh…." Was all Harry could see as he realized the problem and all four looked worriedly at the deceptively flat water.

"So how do we figure out what's in there?" Ginny asked. "I'd prefer not to go swimming if you don't mind."

"We need to draw out whatever is in there to find out what it is and how to beat it." Hermione mused to herself. "Maye if I do this…" She raised her wand and aiming it at the floor, she said, " _Creatus_ ," A large lump of bloody meat appeared at her feet and giving it a kick, it rolled inti the water.

Mere seconds later, two heads shot out of the water, each ripping on one side of the lump of meat. A third one, larger than the other two combined shot out between the others and ripped the meat out of the others' jaws.

"I hate being right all the time," Hermione swore softly as she studied the hydra. The skin was dirty blue and not unlike that of a fish, with smooth slippery scales, but judging by what they had found out when they were researching dangerous magical creatures, the skin was much tougher than it looked.

While the three heads were fighting over the hump of bloody meat, the kids were discussing the best way to defeat it.

"We need to draw it out of the water," Hermione said first, "on the land it is far less agile because of its flippers.

"Yea," Ginny replied, "but how do we do that, I think it won't be eager to get out of it's comfort zone."

"We just have to make sure that it's comfort zone isn't so comfortable anymore." Fleur added with a grin.

"And how were you planning on doing that?" Ginny asked a little skeptically. "You may not have noticed this, but there is a lot of water and my transfiguration skills are not yet so far that I can transfigure al that water."

"Girls," Harry interrupted the discussion. "You are thinking far to difficult." At the curious looks from the girls he explained further, "If I understand Hermione's explanation correctly, then that water goes down for maybe hundreds or even thousands of yards. So, all we have to do is lower the water level to such a level that the hydra can not reach us anymore."

"That is not a bad idea," Hermione admitted, but how do we lower the water level?"

"Simple,' Fleur said with a grin and raised her hand, "remember guys, we are Veela, so we are supposed to be able to throw fire balls."

"No offense Fleur, but maybe you can do it, the rest of us can't yet."

At Hermione's rejection of the idea, Harry pulled out his battle wand and pointed it at the water and roared, " _INCENDIO."_ A massive blast of orange and red fire burst forth from Harry's wand at hit the water, causing a massive column of steam to rise instantly.

The reaction he got from the hydra was something none of them had expected. A blast of water as if from a fire hydrant hit him square in the chest and blew him backwards against the wall behind them.

Harry hit the wall with a sound of metal scrapping past stone and landed limply on the floor.

While the three girls rushed to their husband's side to see if he was alright, Nicholas felt a tap on his shoulder and when he turned around he came face to face with a heavily frowning Aurora. "Are you sure you set this one to non-lethal?"

With an apologizing grin Nicholas replied, "Well, seeing as that the lethal version has legs instead of fins so he can walk, then yes. Also, the one I use at home does not spit water, but Fiendfyre."

"How on earth did you get a hydra to spit Fiendfyre?" Gabrielle asked astonished while she and her wife kept an eye on the girls who had woken Harry. Luckily their son didn't seem any worse for the wear as he and the girls turned back to the hydra with a determined expression on their faces.

Grinning cheekily Nicholas replied, "You'll just have to wait and see. If my guess is correct, then Harry is on the right way to solving this trial." The group of spectators turned their attention back to the quartet in anticipation of them solving the task.

When Harry had landed he had hit his head but luckily the girls had been correct when they had often told him he was hard-headed. So, besides a quickly forming bruise the size of a goose egg, he was none the worse for wear.

"I don't know about you girls, but I've about had it with that hydra." The girls nodded agreeing and as one they turned back to the strip of water where the hydra was still waiting patiently. Each of the kids drew their battle wands, Harry was handed his by Ginny who had summoned it for him as it had fallen out of his hand when he hit the wall.

As one they aimed their wands at the hydra and roared "INCENDIO." Once more Gabrielle's words were proven true as the four columns of fire joined together and became a true inferno, far larger than it should be and similar to what Aurora and Gabrielle where capable of creating.

The inferno hit the hydra full in the chest and to the surprise of nearly everyone, it went straight through as if the creature wasn't there.

"It's an illusion," Hermione, Fleur, Aurora, Gabrielle, And Francine said at the same time while they all looked at Nicholas.

"How in my father's name did you manage to create a solid illusion, isn't that supposed to be impossible?"

With a grin Nicholas replied to Aurora's question, "Yes, well it is also supposedly impossible for a human to turn into a dragon so…."

Meanwhile the quartet had shifted their attention back to the hydra and Ginny asked, "Mione, do you know how to dispel an illusion?"

Hermione frowned her eyebrows while she thought about it before slowing shaking her head, "No sorry, I haven't read about that anywhere. But we can still use Harry's original idea, we just have to aim the fire at the water instead of at the illusion."

The others agreed and they turned their wands back to the water. This time the fire was directed at the water directly and massive clouds of steam immediately rose up as the water evaporated. After about a minute the water was already lowered by half a dozen yards and large clouds of steam hung beneath the ceiling. The floor and walls had become moist and after the second minute had past, a thin layer of water covered the floor.

By the time the water had lowered 20 yards, the quartet stopped their spells, judging the level to be low enough for them to attempt to cross the newly created gorge.

"Okay…," Harry began, whist looking down into the depth. "so how are we going to get across this, that's got to be at least 50 feet to the other side."

With a muttering of, "Why do I always have to do these kinds of things," Hermione raised her wand and said, " _Creatus,"_ a pair of brooms materialized and she handed one to Harry and the other to Ginny. "You two fly, Fleur and I will get behind you."

"That won't work Mione," Ginny countered, with the EXO'S we'll be to heavy so you and Fleur will have to fly across on your own."

With a small frown Hermione created two more brooms and handed the spare to Fleur whilst keeping the first in her own hand. Putting away their wands, the quartet mounted the brooms and flew across the gap.

Once they landed Harry asked rhetorically, "Ehh, why didn't we just do this to begin with, could have saved us a lot of effort."

"Yea, well, where would be the fun in that," Fleur said cheekily while tapping the bump on Harry's head.

"AHH, cut it off," Harry yelled while slapping her hand away, "That fucking hurts."

From three sides, it came immediately, "Language Harry."

"What, it does hurt."

"O quit your whining you big baby." Fleur smirked as she led the others towards the final door. "Let's go see what old Bumbles has in store for us."

It turned out to be rather anticlimactic to be honest. The room they entered was circular and comparable to the previous rooms it was like a broom cabinet in size. Occupying the room was a trio of archways and nothing else. Oddly enough the different paths were marked with muggle signs, the signs were for biohazard, nuclear radiation and toxic environments.

"Okay what the hell is the meaning of this?" Ginny asked curiously as she inspected the nearest sign.

"Those are muggle warning signs Gin," Hermione explained, "each of those indicates a certain kind of danger and neither of the three is one you want to walk into unprotected."

Behind the quartet, the group of spectators looked on with curiosity and inspected the signs they saw. Turning to Nicholas, Gabrielle asked, "Are we allowed to give the kids some blank masks to protect them, in case those signs are not just a bluff of the old goat."

After mulling it over for a minute Nicholas nodded his head, "Yea that is fine, I do not know if Dumbledore is serious with those signs but I'd rather not risk it." Both Aurora and Gabrielle looked relieved and Gabrielle quickly rushed to the kids to stop them from entering the maze while Aurora flamed away to Avalon to get some blank masks.

"WAIT UP KIDS," Gabrielle yelled as she saw the quartet moving towards the maze. When she reached them she continued, "We don't know if those signs are just a bluff or real, but we're not going to take any chances. Aurora has gone to Avalon to get you four some blank masks to wear for now."

"Sweet," Harry grinned but his hope was quickly stomped down again by Gabrielle.

"Don't get to excited Harry, we're taking them back as soon as you guys are done here. The masks are something you have to earn, so you're just borrowing them."

At that moment Aurora reappeared with a bag in her hands which she opened as soon as she reached the kids. She took out four helmets and handed them to the kids. They recognized the helmets as the standard version that belonged with the EXO's. They were made up of two pieces, one left and one right, that were placed around the head and covered the entire head except for the face and were clicked into the neck to connect them with the rest of the armor.

Once the helmets were on, Aurora handed them each a mask. Unlike the official ones, these were just plain grey titanium, but they still held all the advantages of the official ones. The masks were clicked into place on the helmets and once Aurora and Gabrielle were content that they were properly protected, they nodded and Gabrielle said, "Good luck guys, you can do this."

The kids nodded and once Aurora and Gabrielle where back with the other spectators, they turned back to the archways.

"So, which one are we going to take?" Ginny asked since she knew the least about the dangers that were indicated.

"I'm suggesting we try the least dangerous one first, the Biohazard, since the EXO's are airtight they'll pose no danger to us." Fleur suggested.

"Yea," Harry replied, "But I think we should do the Toxic one, as it would be the most appealing for Voldemort because of the skull and bones. You know, the whole Death Eater thing."

"Well," Hermione objected, "If we are going with danger I'd choose for the Nuclear radiation. Because I'm guessing that it would be the only thing capable of penetrating a shield spell or a bubble head charm, since radiation cannot be stopped by anything other than a solid barrier."

"Good point," Harry admitted, "but will our EXO's protect us from that radiation?"

"According to Boltrock, they should." Aurora said casually to the other spectators and just load enough for the quartet to hear her as well.

Grinning softly beneath their masks, the quartet looked at each other and Harry said, "Well, I guess that settles it, Nuclear Radiation it is."

With a single nod, the others agreed and Harry raised his wand, a soft, " _Lumos_ ," and the light shone into the archway. Leading the others onwards, Harry entered the arch and the quartet vanished from their sight.

"And now we wait," Gabrielle said softly as she and Aurora sat down against the wall.

They had barely sat down when, "KABOOM," a massive explosion shook the wall that housed the arches and the two Angels shot back up again. Seconds later four armored figures where blasted out of the arch followed by clouds of dust and some rubble.

"Clearly that was the wrong arch," Ginny stated dryly while scowling to Hermione. "Good guess Mione, 'let's take the most dangerous way'."

"O shut up Gin," Harry responded, "like you had any idea, let's just be glad it wasn't a real Nuclear Bomb we walked into."

"Let's just take one of the other arches and get this whole thing over with." Fleur interrupted the argument before it could really kick off.

"Fine," Ginny muttered and turning back to the arches, she added, "So which one are we going to try now?"

"I say we go for the Toxic one, I still feel I'm right about the whole skull and bones thing."

"Fine, let's go," Ginny said before lighting her wand and marching into the archway below the toxic sign.

Before the others could follow her, a second explosion sounded and Ginny was once again blasted out of the arch. She hit Harry and Fleur, throwing them over and the trio landed against the wall again. As they lay on the ground Harry roared, "MERLIN'S SAGGY SCROTUM!"

"OI, RESPECT YOUR GRANDPA," Aurora yelled back while the other spectators were laughing their guts out at her red face."

Harry gave his mom a rather rude finger before he and the girls turned to the last arch. After muttering a few more curses about old men with long beards, Harry said to the girls, "So I guess this has to be the one then, huh?"

"Yea, guess so," Hermione said with a little trepidation in her voice.

"I'm not going in first," Ginny said resolutely while crossing her arms across her chest.

"Me neither," Harry added, causing Hermione and Fleur to look at each other's mask.

"Fine, I'll go first," Fleur said and raising her wand, she marched forward into the final archway.

None of the spectators even raised an eyebrow as a third massive explosion shook the wall and send all four of the kids outwards and against the wall again.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT OLD GOAT PLAYING AT." Ginny yelled in frustration as she ripped the mask of off her helmet, a move that was followed by the other three. "This isn't a trial, it's a fucking dead end. There is no way to progress through this, just where is that bloody stone?"

As if the room was waiting for someone to say exactly that, the three archways were suddenly shut and a pedestal slowly rose from a hole in the floor that had appeared in the floor before the centre arch. And on that pedestal, were a scroll and a blood red stone.

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry groaned as he took the scroll and unrolled it. On the scroll was written,

 _Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it, and who are deserving of it._

 _S._

"Won't this be considered cheating?" Hermione asked softly while she read over Harry's shoulder.

" _No, it won't,"_ came Sarah's reply, " _Old Bumbles put the stone into a vault below this room, a vault that was sealed with a blood lock, so only he could open it. Ginny was correct, this was not a trial, but a dead end."_

A sound of applause was heard behind them and when they turned, they saw it was Nicholas who was clapping, followed quickly by the other spectators. "I must say kids," the old alchemist said with a grin, "you have done an excellent job in overcoming those trials. And even though I could have expected that last trick by Dumbledore, you did not let yourself be discouraged by it. I am very much impressed with your ingenuity, courage and loyalty to each other."

He walked over to the pedestal and picked up the stone that lay there, throwing it in the air he let it flip around a few times, reflecting the light that shone upon it. Catching it again he held it in his hands and offered it up to the kids with the words, "Here, you have justly earned this. It is yours now."

The kids looked in awe and with wonder in their eyes at the stone in Nicholas' hands. Eventually it was Harry who picked it up and holding it in his hands the other three gathered around him. They studied it in reverence before turning to Nicholas and making an identical bow of gratitude. "Thank you sir, I swear we will not abuse the power of this stone."

With a small grin Nicholas nodded in acceptance of his words and replied, "Of that I have no doubt Mr. Potter. Of that I have no doubt.

Author's note,

And that's it, this is the end of second year. Next chapter we move on to the holiday and after that third year. I have decided to add third year to this part since I'm not planning on making it such a long one. The majority will focus on the summer between second and third year, and something else that will happen later in the year. All in all, as it stands now I have planned for it to be around 15 chapters.

Credits go to my faithful BETA (and kicker of my ass when I don't write fast enough (I do my best guys I love this story too)), for coming up with Snape's trial.

Also, credits go to SherlockHolmes4884 for giving me the idea of using muggle signs, though admittedly his idea was completely different, it did give me the final inspiration on how it turned out in the end.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please let me know what you think.

Till next time,

Medieval Maniak.


	31. Chapter 31

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 30

The Hogwarts express slowed down as the fire-red steam train pulled into Platform 9 ¾. The crowd of parents that awaited the train was eagerly anticipating the arrival of their children after a somewhat controversial year at the magical school. The magical media had extensively reported about what was dubbed, 'The Lockhart incident' and the consequences that had followed it.

The dismissal of the Board of Governors and Aurora's accusations towards them and Fudge had caused a backlash the British magical community hadn't seen since the First Wizarding War. The Wizengamot was split between those supporting Aurora's side and those on Fudge's side.

Surprisingly enough, a sizeable part of the 'old pureblood elite', were on the side of Aurora, though she suspected it was more out of fright than out of agreement. Anderson's little speech at Halloween, and the following international outrage had led many to believe that the head of The Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys was not someone they wanted to be on the bad side of.

Speaking of which, Aurora and Gabrielle were standing near the edge of the platform with Dan and Emma, Jean-Paul, Apolline and little Gabby, and Arthur and Molly. There was a small gap between them and the rest of the platform, which was caused by Ivan and half a dozen Black Angels in suits who kept the reporters and others at bay.

When the train came to a stop and the students started to disembark, Molly asked, "So is it the same arrangement as last summer, two weeks with Arthur and me, then two weeks in France and then the rest of the summer with you two?"

Scratching behind her right ear, Aurora said, "Ehh, oops. I kind'a forgot and planned something that will begin in three days and will last the first four weeks of the vacation, so do you mind if we switch it around?" the other parents had no objection so that was quickly settled.

"Why don't you all come along?" Gabrielle asked, "Dan, and Arthur have to come anyway and you guys can stay at our place of departure when we are gone, which is only for the last two weeks. The villa we have there is quite nice this time of year."

The others looked interested at the proposal but Molly asked, "Where would that be then?

"Where would what be?" Came the voices of the twins as they led the others towards them.

"That's a surprise," Aurora cut off any other reply with a dark look at Dan and Arthur warning them not to let anything slip.

"What's a surprise?" Ron asked as he was 'Molly-hugged' by his mother.

"Our vacation destination," His father said with a grin before looking at Aurora and adding, "Is it okay if we take the whole family? I'm sure Bill would like it and Charlie and Joanna have wanted to introduce the newest Weasley to the children."

Three months earlier Joanna had given birth to the first Weasley of the newest generation, a little red-haired girl by the name of Sofia Molly Weasley. The small family was now living in the completely rebuilt Burrow which was now a nice comfy two story house in the style of a carriage house. Both Charlie and Joanna were now employed by the Scottish Dragon Preserve which was run by Lord Macfusty and Molly watched little Sofia by day.

The kids all looked excited by the prospect of having a shared holiday and shortly afterwards, the group split up. Arthur and Molly took their sons back to Weasley manor, and all the others grabbed a hold of the rope Gabrielle handed out.

Once the group arrived at Potter Manor, the quartet hurried up to their room to put away their trunks and Ivan and the Black Angels headed back to Avalon through the Floo. Jean-Paul, Apolline and little Gabby took a portkey home to France and would return when they left for their holiday. Luna stayed with the adults and asked Daisy to put her trunk in her room, which the elf was more than happy to do.

Turning to her Moms she said with a cheeky grin, "You, know mom, if you want to know how the 'Holiday'," she used finger quotes on that last word, "is going to be, you could always just ask me."

Both Aurora and Gabrielle burst out laughing at her cheeky grin and Gabrielle ruffled her hair while saying, "Sure we could, but where is the fun in that. And besides, just because _we_ trust your visions unconditionally, the U.N.S.C. will demand physical evidence."

"Okay," she replied happily before asking, "So, can we go shopping tomorrow? I need a new bathing suit as my old one is getting rather tight."

"Sure, sweetie," Gabrielle said before shooing her off to her room. "Go on, unpack your trunk and put your things away, dinner is in the pool room in half an hour."

"Okay mum," she waved before skipping off to the nearest elevator.

The four adults who were left in the entrance hall shared an amused look at the girl's antics and were a bit relieved. The first few weeks after Halloween had been hard on Luna, she had had multiple violent outburst during training and the occasional emotional breakdown. But with the support of the quartet and Aurora and Gabrielle, she had gotten through most of it and regained her previous bubbly personality.

The four adults split up, with Aurora and Gabrielle heading for their own room to change into their swimwear and Dan and Emma heading for their home to do the same.

During dinner, the kids told Dan and Emma about their past year and about the tasks for the Stone in particular. Talking of which, the Stone was currently in the hands of Gringotts. On the urging of Aurora and Gabrielle, the kids had given the stone to Lord Ragnok for safe-keeping. It was now resting in the deepest bowels of Gringotts, in the Potter Vault, which had received additional protective measures in the form of a blood-lock keyed to Harry alone.

"So... where are we going on holiday this year?" Harry asked innocently as the elves were cleaning up the dishes after the barbeque they had had.

After sharing a grinning look with Gabrielle and Dan, Aurora replied, "That's a surprise, but I will say this, it is tropical and there are a lot of ships, since we'll be conducting the sea-trials for the MPACS's. Which incidentally will be the second part of our holiday."

"Cool," all five said as one and Harry added, "Can we come with you to the sea-trials, we want to see those ships in action."

"Sure, if you want to, there'll be a few friends of our also present so you five coming along won't be a problem, as long as you behave." Aurora added that last part with a warning look on her face. "This time I will not tolerate something like that stunt you pulled at the White House."

"What stunt?" Luna interrupted her and Gabrielle answered.

"Last summer we visited Thomas O'Neill, a friend of ours who happens to be the President of the United States. During the visit those four where given a tour and they managed to rile up the Secret Service by publicly discussing if they should try to shoot their way out of the situation when the detectors showed that they were carrying muggle guns."

"You four actually did that?" Luna asked amazed while she looked at the quartet. When they nodded she said softly, "That is so cool."

The adults couldn't help but smile and agree as it was indeed, but Gabrielle had to add. "Yes, kids it was cool and no harm was done, but we are serious now, you have to behave. Thomas is a good friend of ours, but the representatives of the U.N.S.C. will be criticizing us on any point they can, in an attempt to gain more power over us."

Aurora nodded in agreement and continued, "We are the commanders of the Shadow Legion because we were named as such by the U.N.S.C., on recommendation of Jean-Paul and Elizabeth. And even if we were relieved of command, the Legion would not follow anyone else, but it is a situation we must avoid. If it does come to that, Gabrielle and I will have no choice but to publicly announce who and what we are in order to retain our command."

The kids nodded in understanding and Hermione said, "We understand, and we promise that we'll behave ourselves."

"Good," Gabrielle said with a grateful smile, "Thank you."

"Now, let's turn to more cheerful subjects," Emma said to break the silence that fell after Gabrielle's words, "Tomorrow we are going shopping, as Luna needs a new bathing suit and judging by your clothes, you three girls will have outgrown your old ones as well."

Hermione, Fleur and Ginny nodded in confirmation and with a naughty grin Fleur added, "Harry doesn't seem to mind overly much though, he quite enjoys looking at us now that our bathing suits are a bit too small." Harry turned instantly bright red at the grins of the adults and the four girls were laughing at his predicament.

"Nothing to be ashamed of Harry," Dan said with a grin while slapping him on the shoulder, "it shows you're a healthy man." Now turning serious he added, "Though don't get tempted to touch my little girl just yet." Harry swallowed as he felt Dan's hand clench itself on his shoulder until Emma saved him.

'SMACK', she slapped Dan against the back of his head and said, "Shut up Dan. I thought we agreed that the time for the intimidating father persona was over."

Rubbing his head Dan muttered, "I agreed to nothing, you just told me to do it."

"Yes," Emma replied with a smirk, "And let me say it again, you are to leave them to their own devices and not to threaten Harry in any way or form." As an afterthought she added, "And remember, we still have that couch standing on the porch."

Now it was Dan's turn to blush and the others laughed at his expense when he swallowed and said meekly, "Yes dear."

The next day, the group as a whole, plus Ivan for extra security, gathered in the travel room for their shopping trip. Gabrielle pulled a familiar length of rope from a pouch and once they all had a grip, she activated it and they spun away.

They landed in the apparition area next to Harrods where a smiling, Mohawk-wearing blonde was waiting for them. "Hey guys," Francine said cheerfully as she hugged Aurora and Gabrielle.

To the amusement of the others they saw Ivan staring at her with not the usual adoration Veela drew normally, but with a certain longing in his eyes. When Aurora and Gabrielle noticed it, Gabrielle whispered something is Francine's ear and she got a naughty grin on her face before turning towards the giant Russian.

"And what might be your name, handsome?" She asked while flickering her eyelashes at him.

With a head as a tomato Ivan stuttered, "I... I... Ivan."

"Ohh," she replied cheekily, "So you are the famous, Ivan the Terrible, I have heard so much about."

Acting like a shy child, to the immense amusement of the others, some of which were rolling on the floor from laughing, he nodded. "Well, it is very nice to meet you Ivan," she stood up on her toes and kissed him square on the lips.

To the amazement of the others, something odd happened then as Ivan seemed to regain his usual bravado. Picking the unusual looking, but still very beautiful Veela, up in his arms, he pressed the kiss on. When he carefully put her on her feet again Francine looked up at him with a dreamy expression on her face and mumbled a bit incoherently, "No offence girls, but I think I'm in love."

This surprised the others, except for Aurora and Gabrielle, and Dan asked, "I'm sorry for presuming, but I always thought you were a lesbian."

Francine shook her head and still with a soft grin on her face she turned to Dan before saying, "No Dan, I'm not a lesbian. Like all Veela I'm bisexual, I like both men and women. Aurora and Gabrielle are good friends, and excellent lovers, but I don't love them in _that_ way." turning back to Ivan she added softly and again with that dreamy look on her face, "Him however..."

"Ehh, should we leave you two alone for a while?" Aurora said grinningly while looking between Ivan and Francine. "If you need some privacy just say so and we'll leave you two to it."

"No, that won't be necessary," Francine said while violently pushing down her instinct that told her to jump him right then and there. "I'm sure I'll be able to hold myself in for the day. Can't make any promises beyond that though." Stepping up on her toes she whispered into Ivan's ears, "Tonight you're mine big boy, I want to know if everything about you is so big."

This again caused Ivan to blush and after another round of laughter, the group left the apparition point and joined the crowds of people that were walking on Brompton Road to head for Harrods.

Once they were inside Francine, having adopted her alter-ego before they left the apparition point, led them towards her own department, the High-End jewellery.

"Why are we here?" Ginny asked curiously as Francine led them into the door after nodding to the two security guards that were posted outside.

"Because I have a little gift for you from my father." Francine replied while rummaging in a drawer of her desk. "Ah, here it is," she said triumphantly as she picked up a small black box. The box was two inches square and made of black velvet and had the seal of Gringotts emblazoned on it in sheet-gold.

Opening it up she showed them four studs. Each was made of goblin silver and had a small ruby on it that was shaped as an exact scale copy of the Philosophers stone. "Dad had these made by Nagnok in honour of your achievements in the trials for the stone last week."

As she handed the box to Fleur, who showed it to the others she said, "Would you like me to put them in now? Won't take all that long as you guys know."

Looking at Aurora and Gabrielle, who shrugged indicating it was their decision, Harry said, "Why not, let's go ahead and do it right now."

Francine nodded and led them into her art room. Ten minutes later they came out again with the quartet now each sporting a second stud below the first. As a group, they went to the beach wear department and after bribing the attendants to clear the department for private use, the five girls and four women gave a little fashion show in bikini's and such, under the very attentive eyes of Harry, Dan and Ivan.

Ivan's eyes were glued to Francine's body every time she left the changing booth to show a new piece. The same went for Dan to Emma and Harry to each of his three girls. Aurora and Gabrielle along with Luna were spared the somewhat lusting looks of the guys but they were met with appreciative comments every time none the less.

When the female part of their group was done and had found what they wanted, it was the guys' turn to give a show and for the girls to give some payback attention.

Eventually they were all done and they split up to do their other shopping needs. Gabrielle and Emma took the girls to find some new clothes, Aurora and Dan took Harry to browse the technology department and Francine dragged Ivan off to parts unknown.

They reconvened for lunch, with Ivan and Francine looking a little dazed from their mysterious activities, which they refused to talk about. Afterwards they headed as a group towards Hyde Park where they spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and enjoying the weather.

The next day they packed their bags for their holiday, with the quartet doing as instructed by Aurora and packing their new EXO's along with their new swimsuits and other clothes they had bought the day before.

Just before dinner the three Delacours arrived via portkey and they spent the evening playing games and catching up with Jean-Paul and Apolline about the school activities they had written them about.

The next day after breakfast, the group gathered in front of the fireplace in the travel room and headed over to Heathrow. Once there, they only had to wait for a few minutes before they were joined by the Weasleys, all ten of them. Aurora led them towards a desk with 'United States' on the sign above it. The witch behind the desk was immediately recognised by the quartet as the disguise used by Dora when they had gone to the airport last summer.

Gabrielle was the first to talk and with a wink to Dora she said, "We reserved a portkey 3 days ago, in the name of Emrys."

Dora nodded and letting her finger travel down the list in the book before her, she stopped at the corresponding line. Picking up her quill she checked the box before it and said, "Emrys, a twenty-two-person international portkey to San Francisco International Airport."

"That's us," Gabrielle replied and Dora tapped the fence besides her desk to let them through.

"Go ahead, your portkey is waiting for you." With a wink, she added a bit softer, "You guys have fun over there. I wish Remus and I could join you but our vacation doesn't start till a month from now."

"Tough luck Dora," Gabrielle replied equally softly before adding, "You two can borrow our villa there when it's time for your vacation."

"Thanks," Dora said back, "now hurry on, the others are already inside."

Gabrielle did as she said and once inside she joined the others who were gathered around a very elongated metal ring and took a hold between her wife and Harry. Once she had a hold Aurora counted down, "3... 2... 1..." a second after she finished they all felt the familiar pull behind their navels and they were whisked away.

Their landing was, rough, to say the least as no one had managed to keep standing.

"Oh, Merlin I'm gonne be si..." Fleur's sentence was cut short by the sound of someone vomiting and shortly after little Gabby screamed,

"AHHH, IT'S ALL OVER ME! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!"

With a quick wave of her wand Apolline vanished Fleur's breakfast from her youngest daughter's clothes. A second wave saw a bright yellow bucket appear before Fleur who grabbed it hastily and deposited the rest of her eggs and toast into it.

Once she was done retching, Fleur turned to her little sister and said weakly, "I'm so sorry Gabby, I didn't mean to do that but I couldn't help it."

Gabby shuddered once before raising her little hand stopping Fleur's apologies. Without saying a word, she turned around and went to stand on the other side of her father.

Hermione and Ginny each held one of Fleur's shoulders as she had to deposit another burst into the bucket. Meanwhile Harry explained to the Weasleys, "Fleur's stomach is not very comfortable with portkey travel, the same happened last year when we went to France."

After a few minutes Fleur's colour had returned to normal and the group was able to take in their surroundings. They had arrived in a sun-lit hall and a pair of wizards in blue robes were waiting patiently for them to finish fussing over Fleur.

"Welcome to San Francisco," one of the wizards said, "Are you the Emrys group?"

Gabrielle nodded and said, "Yes we are. We have a follow-up portkey waiting for us, am I correct?"

The wizard checked a scroll of parchment and nodded, "Yes, a twenty-two-person portkey to Honolulu, departure in 5 minutes."

"Honolulu?" Harry, Hermione, Bill and Charlie asked with surprise and excitement.

"Yes guys," Aurora replied with a grin, "Honolulu. We're going to Hawaii, the island of Oahu to be exact."

"Sweet," Harry and Hermione said in unison and the others nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

"Yes, yes, it is great. Now hurry up before we miss the next portkey." Gabrielle ushered the group on towards a short row of witches and wizards that stood before a desk labelled, 'Honolulu, Hawaii'.

As they reached the desk, the group before them moved through to the departure room and they stopped before the gate. The witch behind the desk wore the same blue robes as the two wizards had and let her quill pass down a short list on the parchment on the desk. "Here we are," She said cheerfully, "a twenty-two-person portkey to Honolulu. Please sign here and then you can continue on into the departure room."

Gabrielle did as she asked, signing the parchment with the offered quill, and the group continued on into the departure room. They again gathered around an elongated metal ring and a 'BEEP' sounded through the room to indicate the portkey was ready to go.

"3... 2... 1..." Again, it was Aurora who counted down and once done, they were once more pulled away by an invisible hook behind their navels.

Luckily for Hermione and Apolline, who stood besides Fleur, the silver-blond teen had nothing more in her stomach to throw up and she was only dry heaving upon their landing. Once her slightly green face had turned back to normal, the group looked around them and a broad grin spread over the faces of the children.

The long hall they had arrived in was overflowing with sunlight, soft sand covered the floor, and palm trees were waving softly in the magical breeze that blew through the hall.

An impressed mood spread over the youngest generation of their company as they took in the tropical surroundings they found themselves in.

"Welcome to Honolulu," a feminine voice drew their attention and they saw a pair of witches wearing loose, light blue robes and with wreaths of flowers crowning their heads.

"Thank you," Gabrielle replied with a smile and the others followed her example while the two witches waved their wands and long strings of flowers appeared around each of their necks.

Shortly after, Aurora and Gabrielle led the way out of the magical arrival hall and they entered the muggle part of Honolulu International Airport. As they left the gate and came to the reception hall, they saw a man holding a sign with ' _Emrys'_ waiting for them. Despite the man's sunburned complexion, white tank-top and shorts he was wearing, he was obviously military.

The man saluted immediately when Aurora and Gabrielle stopped before him and after they and Dan replied in kind, he spoke. "Welcome to Hawaii General, my name is Captain Everton. Admiral Newport welcomes you to the island of Oahu and invites you for brunch tomorrow. For now, I have been sent to bring you to your residence on base for the coming week."

"That is greatly appreciated captain, but we already have lodgings. We have a private villa on the island so if you could bring us there, that would be great." As she continued she indicated the rest of the group, "That is if you have sufficient transport available for twenty-two people."

Captain Everton looked surprised at the group that had now surrounded them as he had originally held them for random tourists. Seeming a bit flustered he apologised, "Apologies ma'am, but we were informed that your company was only three persons, as the rest of your entourage would arrive with your ships in a week time."

"That is quite all right captain," Gabrielle replied genially, "We shall just order a few cabs to take us there. Please inform Admiral Newport that we are more than happy to accept his invite for brunch. Myself, my wife and Colonel Granger will arrive at the base around noon tommorow."

Captain Everton nodded and after saluting again, he walked off toward the parking garage.

"So..." Harry began, "how are we going to the villa?"

With a grin Gabrielle pulled out a familiar length of rope and said, "Take a guess." She led the group to a secluded part of the airport and once there, handed out the rope to the others. When everyone had a firm grip, Gabrielle softly stated their destination and they were pulled away.

They landed on a small patch of grass, surrounded by waving palm trees. Ahead of them sat a beautiful beach-villa. It was built out of large stone blocks and the roof was covered by slate. It was only a single story so the palm trees around it came to the same height as the roof.

Beyond the villa a long stretch of sand covered a private beach. It was situated in a cove roughly half a mile wide. On the right side of the cove stood an elongated wooden building enclosed by the sea at one end.

"Wow," the younger generation said in amazement and Harry asked, "Why haven't we come here before mom? This place in beautiful."

With a soft chuckle Gabrielle replied, "Because we only acquired it last year. This beach belonged to the Parkinson family. We had the villa and the boat house built last summer after we had seen it ourselves. There was a house already but it wasn't much."

"So... what's in the boathouse?" Hermione asked curiously.

With a cheeky grin Aurora replied, "Wouldn't you like to know." The kids all nodded and she added, "We'll show you later, but first, let's get settled in and get to the beach."

The others all agreed and the group moved towards the house where they were all assigned rooms. Harry's was next to that of the girls to keep up appearances to the four youngest Weasley brothers and little Gabby.

After everyone was settled in, the group met again on the beach. To the uncontrolled amusement of the younger generation, Molly was wearing a bathing suit that was the complete opposite of what the other girls and women were wearing. It was a faded red one-piece that covered everything from her neck, down to halfway down her upper legs, and had to be at least half a century behind fashion.

Trying, futilely, to keep her laughter under control, Ginny said, "Mom, you cannot be wearing that. How old is it, from the 1920's?"

Molly in her turn was positively scandalised by the, in her eyes incredibly skimpy, red bandeaukini's and red shorts her only daughter and the two other girls were wearing. She was about to berate her daughter when she saw that it was actually rather conservative compared to the string bikini's Aurora, Gabriele and Apolline were wearing. Luna on the other hand wore a blue one-piece decorated with silver flowers.

To stop Molly from exploding, Gabrielle said, "I'm sorry Molly, but Ginny has a point. You can't wear that, it's ancient, I suggest you and Joanna go shopping first thing in the morning."

Turning to the rest of the group she said, "Now, I believe someone wanted to know what was in the boathouse." A few sounds of approval were heard and she and Aurora led them over to the wooden building.

Aurora opened the large double doors and the kids gasped in excitement. All five were rapidly becoming speed freaks and the assortment of 'toys' they saw before them got them all worked up.

The boathouse contained an assortment of jet ski's, surfboards, kayaks, and even a trio of speedboats. "We put in some toys to play with." Aurora said somewhat unnecessarily and mostly for the sake of the Weasley's who, besides Arthur, had never seen jet ski's and speedboats.

With a somewhat maniacal grin Harry said, "I do think this is going to be the best vacation ever." The four girls besides him didn't say anything, but all four nodded with that same grin on their faces, this was going to be good.


	32. Chapter 32

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 31

The next day, half an hour before noon, a camouflage pattern Humvee with markings of the United States Marine Corps pulled up in front of the villa and Captain Everton stepped out, dressed in proper military uniform this time.

"MOM," Luna yelled from where she was sunbathing on the beach as she saw him step out, "Captain what's-his-name is here."

"Thanks, dear," Gabrielle responded as she came walking out of the house followed by Aurora and Dan. All three were dressed in the parade uniform of the Legion. For Dan, this was a suit not unlike those of the U.S.M.C., but in dark grey with a black peaked cap showing the winged skull and sword of the Legion in red and silver. Gold-thread embroidery went around the cap in a Celtic-knot pattern.

Aurora and Gabrielle were wearing the female version which had a skirt instead of trousers and heeled pumps instead of dress shoes. Denoting their ranks, Aurora and Gabrielle wore 4 small, silver, winged skulls on both edges of their collars. Dan in his turn wore two, indicating his rank as colonel.

All three carried their caps under one arm and upon seeing the looks of Harry and the girls Aurora grinned saying, "Not used to seeing us wearing something like this, are you kids."

All five shook their heads and standing up straight, they gave a mock salute and said in unison with a massive smile, "No ma'am." All three adults laughed merrily at that and saluted back before walking over to the waiting Captain Everton.

Said captain saluted them with a straight face and after receiving a similar reply, he opened the backdoor of the Humvee, holding it so Aurora and Gabrielle could step in. Dan opened the passenger door himself and stepped in after the ladies had taken their seat.

Captain Everton stepped behind the wheel and drove them smoothly towards the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

Upon arrival, they were let through the gates without stopping and Captain Everton drove them to the admiralty building where they were awaited by a man in his late fifties wearing the black uniform of a United States Navy Admiral.

Once they stepped out of the Humvee, all three saluted him and Admiral Newport responded in kind before smiling and saying, "It's been quite a while hasn't it ladies?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle laughed as well and Aurora slapped him on the shoulder saying, "It sure has, 1988, summer Olympics in Seoul. You were still commanding the _Nimitz_ back then, sure moved up on the list haven't you."

"I do my best." Newport responded with a grin.

Dragging Dan forward, Gabrielle said, "Allow me to make introductions. Dan, this is Admiral George Newport, commander of the United States Pacific Fleet. George, meet Colonel Daniel Granger, commander of the United Nations Special Forces,1st Marine Regiment."

Both men shook hands and George led them into the building and towards a terrace overlooking the harbour. To Dan's incredible amazement, he saw an entire fleet laying in port.

No less than 4 _Nimitz-_ class Aircraft-carriers, 6 _Ticonderoga-_ class cruisers, two dozen _Arleigh Burke-_ class destroyers, 3 _Wasp-_ class amphibious assault ships and 15 _Los Angeles-_ class submarines, in addition to several squadrons of small patrol ships.

"Since when is the entire U.S. pacific fleet laid at anchor here?" Dan asked as he counted the ships. "There have to be at least 50 large ships here."

With a sinister smile Aurora replied, "What do you think we are going to test our new toys on?"

Dan's face turned from surprised to amazed to enthusiastic and with a small grin he said, "Wait, so you're saying that we are going up against the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet, with our two ships?"

Both Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Dan said softly, "Sweet, I hope those yanks know what they're up against."

"Don't worry Colonel Granger," George Newport said with a confident smile, "I assure you we will be more than up to the task of beating those two ships of yours."

With a 'humph'-like sound Aurora muttered, "We'll see about that George, we'll see about that."

Over the course of the next week, Aurora, Gabrielle and Dan made two more visits to discuss the trials they were planning with Admiral Newport. The rest of the days was spent either on the beach, the water or shopping in Honolulu. By the end of the week, a little after dinner, a pitch-black V-22 Osprey approached the villa and landed on the grass.

When the cargo doors opened a few familiar faces appeared. Anderson stepped out, followed by Air Marshal Zhukovo, Admiral Woolsey, Colonel Wilhelm Wolff, Ivan and as a last surprise, Francine stepped out.

Ivan and Francine where greeted heartedly by the kids while the other three were greeted by Aurora and Gabrielle.

Aurora was the first to speak and said, "So, how was the trip?"

"Everything went according to plan ma'am," Admiral Woolsey stated plainly. "Both ships and crew performed superbly on the journey here and we are all anxious to see how they will perform in the trials."

"Excellent news Admiral, and what of the _Swordfish,_ what is her location?"

"She was able to keep up and according to schedule she would have been able to run into port later this evening. However, there is a little hiccup with the coastguard." At Aurora's raised eyebrow he explained, "Some overeager pencil-pusher decided that she needed to get fully turned inside out. When Captain Gregor refused, as by your orders, we were forbidden from entering the harbour."

"Bloody hell," Aurora swore before marching over to the cockpit of the Osprey and after pulling the door open she told the pilot, "Hand me the phone." Said phone was immediately handed over and after pushing a few buttons she held the phone against her ear.

"This is General Emrys, patch me through to Admiral Newport." ... "Hey George, it's me. Do me a favor and fire the coastguard numb-nut who decided that my ship needs to be strip-searched." ... "Yea, the _Swordfish_ , that's the one." ... "Yes, I'll wait a minute."

Twirling the phone cable around her fingers Aurora had to wait less than a minute before she got a reply, nodding to herself she answered, "Thank you George, we'll meet you at the docks at 20:30. O and by the way, tell your guard dogs not to shoot down the black Ospreys, they're with me. See you then George."

She handed the phone back to the pilot, who in his turn put it back on the console before powering down his engines and shutting down the machine. "I'll be waiting here till you need me Ma'am." He said to Aurora with a nod of his head.

"You do that lieutenant," Aurora replied, "We'll go change and then we are ready to go."

"Yes, Ma'am will do."

Aurora and Gabrielle nodded back and led the others of high command into the villa and away from the curious Weasley boys. Ron, Fred, George and Percy were all looking curiously at the large, black, metal contraption that had landed next to the house, and consequently at the people who had gotten out of it.

"BOYS," Molly's voice cut through their thoughts about what was going on and they quickly turned around. They didn't know whether to cower or to laugh as Molly's appearance was rather comical. She wore white flip-flops, a floral print tankini (with her wand tucked into the waistband on her left thigh), and sunglasses with palm trees on both ends.

Eventually it was the laugh that won out and after bursting out in a round of badly suppressed sniggers, they ran for their lives as Molly chased them with her wand out.

Meanwhile Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny had been called inside by Dan. "You guys need to get dressed as well. The Ladies said its time for you four to get accustomed to official situations. Put on your EXO's and cover them with your uniforms, they have been adjusted for size. Meet back here in half an hour."

A chorus of, "Yes dad," and "Yes Dan," answered him and the four kids hurried into the house and towards their room. They quickly dove into their trunks and pulled out the boxes holding their new Mark 7's.

After locking the door, they quickly changed from their swimwear into normal underwear, with Harry doing his best not to stare as the girls got completely naked in front of him for the first time in months.

The skin-tight bodysuits were quickly put on, followed by the Kevlar suit and lastly, they helped each other to put on the many loose parts of the power-armor itself. It took them just over 25 minutes before all four were properly suited up. Lastly the grey urban-camouflage uniforms were put over the EXO's to keep them out of sight and after attaching the belts with the SILH's and the combat knives, they were ready to go.

Once they made it downstairs, Dan was waiting for them in his own dress uniform, along with the others from high command and Aurora handed them each a black beret with a red insignia of the winged skull and sword of the Shadow Legion.

"Here, put these on." She said softly, "We can't give you masks, as you have to earn those, but these will make sure you don't draw any unwanted attention to yourselves. Just stay in the background and try to blend in with the others."

They each donned the beret and nodded saying, "Yes mom."

Aurora nodded content and she led them over to the others. Once the group was complete, Aurora and Gabrielle led them over to the Osprey and the pilot started the engines before opening the cargo hatch. They all took a seat and once everyone was seated, the hatch closed again and the pilot took off.

Through the small windows on either side, they could see them flying over the ocean until they were joined by half a dozen others coming out of the east towards them. Flying in formation, the Osprey's flew around the island until they reached the large inlet and they flew over a large cargo ship moving into the military harbor.

As they flew over the ship, they saw a large icon painted on the doors covering the cargo holds. It was a black, winged, skull on a silver anchor above the words, ' _Emrys Shipping_ '.

Looking curiously at his mothers, Harry asked, "Since when do you have a shipping company?"

"Since about five years," Gabrielle responded with a grin. "Turns out that with the amount of recourses we need to keep the Legion up and running, it's cheaper to have our own ships than to have to rent someone else's. We have 1 bulk carrier that ferries titanium ore, 1 oil tanker for fuel for the tanks and helicopters, and one container ship for everything else."

By then they had reached the docks and the pilot descended, setting the Osprey down on a landing platform near the docks, the others remained airborne for now. Once they landed the hatch opened and Aurora and Gabrielle stepped out while the others remained seated. "Come on kids, you come with us for now, we want you guys to meet someone."

Looking a bit confused between themselves, the kids stood up and followed them out of the helicopter.

They were awaited by a trio of men, one dressed as an admiral and the other two dressed as United States Marine Corps generals. "Gentlemen," Aurora said while she and Gabrielle saluted. The three men saluted back and Aurora motioned for the kids to come forward.

"Kids, meet Admiral George Newport, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. And the Generals Patrick O'Hara and Alexander Jackson, commanders of the 2nd and 3rd Marine division. These gentlemen represent the opposition during the coming war-games."

Ignoring the confused looks of the kids for now, Aurora continued, "Gentlemen, let me introduce, our son, Harry. The daughter of Colonel Granger, Hermione. The Daughter of the French vice-president, Fleur Delacour. And finally, the daughter of our assistant head of weapons-research, Ginny Weasley."

Finally acknowledging the kids confusion, Gabrielle said, "Yes kids?"

"Ehh, what did you mean with opposition? I thought we were just going to test the MPACS's?" Harry spoke for all four.

With a large grin Aurora replied, "Yes Harry, and we are going to test them against the United States Armed Forces. And no," she added seeing his face, "we are not going to tell you how just yet. You'll just have to wait until we brief the others, which will be in about half an hour."

Turning to the three men she motioned towards the Osprey and said, "Gentlemen, after you."

They nodded in acceptance and walked to the still open hatch of the helicopter followed by Aurora and Gabrielle, and the quartet. Once they were all inside, the pilot lifted the Osprey up into the sky again and once joined by the others, they flew North-East.

It was only a short trip and soon they began to descend again. The Osprey's landed on the parking lot of an American-Football stadium. Once they left the helicopter, they waited until the others had also disembarked, and then they marched into the stadium as a single unit.

The three Americans led the way, followed by Aurora, Gabrielle and Anderson. They in turn were followed by Woolsey and Zhukovo. Next were Dan, Wilhelm Wollf and Ivan, Francine was not a part of the Legion so she had stayed behind with the others at the villa. Next were the other 49 members of the Black Angels and about eighty other officers and NCO's of the Legion.

Harry and the girls had been placed in between the last part of the group. Being dressed exactly the same, they didn't stand out unless someone would take the effort to look closely at their faces, as then they would notice their young age compared to the others.

In silence, they walked into the stadium and Harry and the girls saw a sight they would never forget. The entire stadium was packed with men and women wearing U.S. Navy or Marine Core uniforms. At least 60,000 had to have been present, as large parts of the playing field were also occupied by rows of folding chairs, leaving only a 15-foot-wide walkway toward a podium set in the middle of the stadium. It appeared that they were roughly equally divided between Navy and Marine Core personnel. Large video screens were set up to offer a good view from all sides of the stadium.

Feeling a little small when all 60,000 military personnel stood up at attention at their entrance, Harry and the girls squared their shoulders and tried not to let their nervousness show. It was slightly less frightening for Harry as he was somewhat used to crowds watching him during Quidditch, but that was only 1,000 spectators at most, not sixty times as many.

The group of Legion personnel followed the trio of Americans towards the podium and once there, the high command went to stand on top of it and the others in front of the podium. As the kids looked a little lost around them, they got a nudge from Lieutenant Saint-Claire. "You four come stand next to me, try to act calmly." Being relieved at hearing what to do, the kids quickly did as she said before they focused on listening to what those on the podium would tell them.

On the podium admiral Newport was the first to walk up to the lectern and speak. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, please be seated." Everyone did as he said and he quickly continued. "You are all probably wondering why you have all been gathered here and more importantly, who those are that came in with us." A murmur of agreement sounded throughout the stadium.

"Well let me answer that last one first." He pointed toward Aurora and continued, "Allow me to give the floor to General Aurora Emrys, Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Special Forces."

After he stepped away from the lectern, ignoring the sudden excited murmur, Aurora took his place. "Good evening everyone, I'm sure you are all wondering why I and my people are here, well allow me to tell you. Ever since our founding, roughly 12 years ago, we have been building an arsenal of fancy toys. Our purpose for coming here is very simple. We are going to be testing those toys… on you lucky bastards."

An ominous silence filled the stadium as everyone took in those words. During its relative short existence, the U.N.S.F. had already gained a fearsome, and somewhat legendary reputation amongst most armed forces around the world.

"No need for you to get worried though, I promise that none of you will be in any mortal danger. Your task here is simple, over the past six months, the Army Corps of Engineers has been building extensive fortifications on an uninhabited island about 200 miles from here. Your job will be to protect those defenses. Our job, will be to take them."

Taking a remote from the lectern, she activated the prepared PowerPoint presentation. To the humor of the Legion Members, and the dismay of all the others present, the first slide read, 'Operation Turkey Shoot.'

"Okay," Aurora continued to the next slide whilst barely keeping in her own amusement, "'Operation Turkey-Shoot' exists of three parts. The first part is the naval part, which will be the job of the naval personnel amongst you. Your ships will form a blockade around the island, and engage our invasion forces.

The second part, after we have smashed our way through your blockade, will be us bombarding the complete and utter shit out of those carefully prepared fortifications. This will be without any of you being within fifteen miles of said fortifications, since we shall be using live ammunition for that.

The third and final part will be the Marine Core trying to stop us from taking over the island by way of a joint amphibious and aerial landing. Let me make one thing clear, during this last part, any and all violence is permitted in your attempts to stop us.

There is no danger for inflicting permanent harm, as you will all be given special paint rounds we ourselves use during combat exercises. So, think of it this way, we'll all be playing a massive game of paintball, just the XXXL version of it."

After letting her words sink in for a minute Aurora grinned and said, "Okay… is everyone excited?"

Stealing the Marines traditional battle cry, the Legion Personnel shouted as one, "OOHRAH."

Turning a somewhat sinister smile towards the trio of Americans she added, "So gentlemen, I'll leave everything in your most capable hands, and I'll see you on the battlefield. You have one week to prepare. Next Monday, we strike." And with those words she saluted to the trio and accompanied by Gabrielle, Anderson and Dan, she left the stage. They walked out of the stadium, followed by the others who fell in line, and returned to the Osprey's.

Once back in the air, Aurora turned toward the kids and asked with a shit-eating grin, "So, tell me, what did you think of the plan?"

After sharing a look between them, Ginny said, "The name is surely original, how did you come up with it?"

Laughing now spread through the helicopter before Gabrielle answered, "It's a muggle term. In the military, it is used to describe a situation where one side holds all the advantages over the other, allowing them to incite very heavy losses against little loss of their own."

As understanding came over Ginny, she adopted the same grin shared by the others and said, "Ohhh, so they will think they have all the cards, since we are outnumbered, but in reality, it will be us having the advantages thanks to Boltrock's toys."

"Exactly," Aurora replied, still with that same shit-eating grin on her face. "So now all we have to do is make sure our ships stay out of the way of the U.S. Navy to avoid them from being spotted before the party begins." Turning to Admiral Woolsey she added, "I'll be leaving that in your capable hands Admiral."

Woolsey nodded and replied, "I'll see it done Ma'am."

Turning to Colonel Wolff Aurora asked, "How is morale onboard?"

"Well enough," Wolff shrugged, "They're bored and eager to get going, but someone got the idea of putting the landing crafts outside so now they are using the empty well decks as swimming pools. They have organized an entire competition with each platoon having a team to represent them in half a dozen sports ranging from a relay race to water polo."

"Nice," Gabrielle said a little impressed, "So who's winning?"

"Who do you think?" Ivan asked with a little proud smile.

"Yea but your team has the best cheerleader," Colonel Wolff grumbled. "Every time _der verdammte punker_ activates her allure the entire male population goes _verrϋckt."_

"HAHAHAHA," an uproarious laughter came from Aurora, Gabrielle, Ivan and the kids, until Gabrielle managed to say, "Let… let me guess… HIHIHI…. You got an… an all female team?"

"Uh-huh," Ivan replied innocently. Looking at the others he added shrugging, "The Black Angels are supposed to be the best of the best, we have a reputation to maintain."

"And how is Francine thinking of all the attention?" Fleur asked a bit concerned, "Because speaking as a Veela, I can assure you; when dealing with such a large crowd, one needs to be very careful. With the strength of the allure needed to ensnare so many, we risk losing control, which could cause chaos."

With a proud grin Ivan replied, "Don't worry about that, she has plenty of experience with using her allure. And besides," now a small, and somewhat proud, growl entered his voice," they all know she's with me, so no one will dare touch her."

"Soooo, you and Francine are a couple then?" Dan asked with a grin that was shared by the Ladies

A proud nod was answer enough and as a jest Harry asked, "And when is the wedding?"

Suddenly a little nervously Ivan stammered. "Well… eh… that… that is to… to say."

Dan grabbed his right hand and pulling it up he exclaimed, "No way, you guys eloped." And indeed, a silver ring was occupying his right ring finger.

"Hum hum," Aurora cleared her throat and immediately everyone was silent. "First of all, congratulations Ivan. Secondly, we are having a wedding feast at Avalon, I don't give a shit whether you want to or not, we are having it. And thirdly, I'm feeling very insulted that we were not invited, eloped or not."

Ivan had the good graces to feel a bit ashamed and he muttered, "It wasn't my idea really. Sinny wanted it and I just went along with it."

"And what did Nick and Perenelle have to say about it?" Gabrielle asked curiously.

"Let's just say that I now know how Sirius felt when I played the overprotective father."

Another round of sniggers could be heard and soon they felt the Osprey starting to land again. Once they had landed, Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan, Ivan and the kids left the helicopter, once they were out, the pilot opened the throttle again and the Osprey rose up. He joined the others that were waiting and they flew off back towards the MPACS'.

The small group went into the house and changed into something more comfortable, before they went outside where they found the others all gathered round a large bonfire where they were roasting marshmallows.

"Hey guys," Gabrielle said as she and the others sat down amongst the rest.

"How did it go?" Francine asked softly when Ivan sat down behind her and gave her a kiss in her neck.

"Well enough," he replied softly. "I think Aurora got the message across that they are going to be the victims in this operation, and not the top dogs as they are accustomed to. So, we'll have to wait and see how they perform."

He leaned back against the large boulder and his new wife leaned back against him. "Have you told them?"

"They guessed it," He replied, "And Aurora and Gabrielle were a bit insulted that we didn't invite them, so we have to throw a party at Avalon to make it up to them."

"Well if that is all then we came off pretty easy, I was afraid Aurora would take it a lot harder."

"Yea me too," Ivan sighed before he took a long swig of the beer Dan had just handed him. "I'm glad she didn't though."

Francine nodded softly and stared at the fire content that, at least for now, everything was all right in the world.

Author's note:

I know it's a short one this time but this seamed to me like the right place to cut it off. I hope you all like it and I'll see you with the next one.

Medieval Maniak.


	33. Chapter 33

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 32

Early in the evening on the Sunday before 'Operation Turkey Shoot' was scheduled to begin, a somewhat tense atmosphere had descended on the villa. Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan, Ivan, Arthur and the quartet were all anxiously walking around in the living room as they waited for an Osprey to come and pick them up. The Weasley boys had picked up on the mood and it was all Arthur could do to come up with an excuse for their upcoming departure.

The excuse that they were going to test a few toys only got the question of what exactly those toys were and why they were so secretive about it. In the end Gabrielle was forced to alter the minds of the four youngest boys once more, for their own safety. So as far as they were concerned, the others had to go back home for work or training. This left only the Weasleys minus Arthur and Ginny, and Apolline and little Gabby. Jean-Paul, Francine and Luna, while not being part of the Legion, would be coming with them as 'civilian observers'.

At precisely 18:30, a black Osprey landed before the manor and the group that would be leaving said their goodbyes to the others. Once the goodbyes were said, they stepped aboard, and the cargo hatch closed behind them. As the Osprey lifted itself into the air, Aurora looked at the kids with a wide smile and asked, "Excited much?"

An identical enthusiastic nod was her reply and for the rest of the hour-long flight, they spoke excitedly about what would be happening.

"Look," Gabrielle said after a little over an hour had passed, "there they are." She pointed out the window and when they looked they saw them. The two gigantic warships were floating gently on the sea and a series of smaller crafts where floating besides them.

As the Osprey lowered itself towards the nearest ship, they finally had the chance to see the MPACS's in all their, finally fully completed glory. Contrary to the Nimitz-class on who's designs they were based, the MPACS's had a more box like design, giving them a far larger deck-area, and below-deck storage space.

The massive turrets with their immense Rail-cannons stood menacingly on each corner and mid ships. Amongst the turrets, the decks of both ships where a flurry of activity as air and ship crews were doing the last checks to make sure everything was in prime condition before the trials would begin the next day.

As the Osprey began its landing procedure, they could see a small delegation waiting for them before the superstructure on the aft-deck. When the hatch opened, they saw Anderson, Woolsey, and Zhukovo waiting for them along with Colonel Wolff.

"Welcome aboard everyone," Anderson said with a grin. Looking at the five kids he added, "And kids, what do you think of the Legion's pride and glory?"

"Awe-inspiring," Fleur answered for all of them. "They were big when we saw them on Avalon last summer but now that they are fully operational, they are a lot more impressive."

"I know right," Anderson grinned opening his arms and saying, "Come, I'll give you the grand tour."

They eagerly followed him and over the next two hours, they were shown around the massive ship. First up was the superstructure, which had 10 floors, most of which were occupied by the private apartments and meeting rooms of the officers. On top of the superstructure was a 60-foot mast with radar and radar jamming systems, communication systems, and a sender-receiver antenna for contact with the Eagle-Eye scout drones.

The topmost floor housed the air-control room and the one below that was the war-room. It held a very large table, 15-foot by 30-foot, which could, through a very sophisticated system, project an accurate 3D image of the battlefield. The image would be made by projectors who received their information from 4 Eagle-Eye schout drones which could be launched from the deck and would circle the battlefield with their highly advanced cameras and other surveillance equipment.

Below decks, the uppermost deck housed a fully equipped hospital with 300 beds, 10 operating rooms, store rooms for medical supplies, and sleeping quarters for the medical staff. The medical staff, which was not counted amongst combat personnel, or the ship's crew, was made up of 50 fully trained healers, 50 surgeons and doctors, and a compliment of 175 nurses. The sixty field healers of the marine regiment, two for each platoon, where also housed here.

The next 2 floors were filled with dorms for the sailors, mess halls, kitchens, and several fitness facilities. The 2 floors below that were reserved for the sleeping and living quarters of the marines that were stationed on board. The floor below that was the armory, holding all the personal weapons and a fully equipped workshop for maintenance on the EXO's.

The two floors below that housed gun-ranges and the storage facilities for the EXO's. The next floor was the main hangar level, separated in two parts. The front half held 60 Osprey's and 4 of the modified AC-130 L, codenamed Reapers. The back half held 24 Mil-Mi-26 tank carriers, 48 AH-64 Apache's, and the 4 Eagle-Eye scout drones.

The floor below that was the main armory which held the ammo for the Rail-cannons, and all the helicopters, gunships, tanks, and AAPC's that were carried onboard. Each of the eight-gun turrets ran down to this level and had a direct ammo-line between gun and armory.

Despite being equipped with switch-activated Gemino-charms, the Rail-cannons would still need that direct line for the special ammunitions. The Gemino-charms were only employed for the solid shells, as the high explosives and the Hellfire rounds were not able to be replicated by magic. The effects would be too unstable and unsafe to fire for rounds of that size, though for hand-held and machineguns, they were perfectly useable without problems.

All other large caliber weapons on both ground and air vehicles where likewise equipped with Gemino-charms for their solid-shell ammo to reduce their weight and not be hampered by maximum storage space. Safety regulations limited them from using expansion charms for explosive objects. So, they'd rather use the available space for the special ammo.

The level below that was the water-line hangar, which was likewise split in two parts. The first 2/5th directly behind the bow doors, was submerged and held the four landing crafts. These landing crafts they had gotten from the Russians and were hovercrafts from the Zubr-class.

Also held in the submerged part were 6 miniature submarines. These were 15 meters long, manned by 4 people, and armed with sophisticated sonar for submerged reconnaissance. They were also equipped with a ward scheme making them invisible for hostile sonar, radar, and other detection methods.

They were limitedly armed with three torpedo tubes, each holding one British-made Sting ray torpedo and having a spare stored behind them. A single, remote controlled, 50 mm railgun with 30 shots was located on the deck before the tower.

The middle 2/5th was used for storing the armor compliment, 60 Mammoths, 45 BMP-3 Armored Personnel Carriers, and 30 AS-90 Self-propelled artillery pieces. The aft 1/5th held a machine shop for maintenance and spare parts for the armor compliment, in addition to an elevator going up to the flight deck.

The lowest levels, in both bows held the ballast-tanks, were used for storing supplies and held equipment for turning seawater into drinking water.

Upon getting back to the flight deck, Anderson showed them the offensive measures that had been installed onboard. On each of the four corners of the ship were the massive artillery turrets, each turret holding three, 450 mm Rail-cannons. On both sides, in the middle with 75 feet between them where the four secondary turrets. Each of those held four, 300 mm Rail-cannons.

After long and extensive testing in Area-51, under the supervision of Boltrock, a computer-program had been designed that controlled the firing of the cannons, regulating altitude, energy supply and kind of missile. This program allowed them to shoot with almost pin-point accuracy, up to a range of 300 miles.

Also scattered around the hull where a dozen Goalkeeper CIWS systems for short range defense against unguided missiles and hostile fighter planes. Judging by past experience with this particular system, they were also excellent at shooting down flying monsters, including dragons for that matter.

For defense against opponents on brooms, or other smaller targets, there where fifty twin .50 caliber machineguns installed around the deck and on several levels of the superstructure.

For defense against torpedoes, guided missiles, artillery fire from enemy ships, and direct contact from spell-fire or conjured objects, the MCPACS was equipped with an extremely extensive ward-scheme. An additional ward had been designed purely for the purpose of disrupting the guiding systems of guided missiles, causing them to detonate harmlessly upon the wards, at 5,000 feet from the ship.

Like all of the Legion heavy equipment, the wards and the MPACS itself was powered by a series of 6 huge Dragonstones, each a foot in diameter. One for the propulsion, allowing for speeds of up-to 45 knots. Two for the wards, allowing them to withstand everything from a simple blasting hex, to Fiendfyre, to even a nuclear explosion. Two more powered the Rail-cannons, allowing for four salvo's a minute. The final one supplied power to all auxiliary systems.

When the grand tour was over, the group went to a mess hall for a cup of coffee, before moving back to the water-line hangar to witness the final event of the aqua-games, the finale of the water polo tournament between the Black Angels team and Colonel Wolff's team.

Francine had snuck off for a few seconds and when she had returned, she was dressed in what was probably supposed to be her 'cheerleader outfit'. A red miniskirt with a same color bikini top. On each of the two triangles that covered her breasts was a small black angel holding a scythe, and she held black and red pompoms in her hands.

"Hey guys," she said in a tone that made her sound like a high school teenager. "How do you like my outfit?" Her 'teenage drama queen' persona that she was trying to present, was nullified by the nearly full-body-covering Celtic tattoos that were now visible.

"Looks great," Harry grinned before looking away quickly, a little red-faced, to his three wives which were standing next to him. To his good fortune though, they grinned as well, as did Luna.

Turning her innocent smile into a smirk, Francine took of one pompom, snapped her fingers and summoned her wand. With only a small wave of her wand, she turned the clothes of Hermione, Fleur, Ginny, and Luna into the same outfit she herself was wearing, including the pompoms.

Before either of the four girls could react, Gabrielle cleared her throat and said on a mock insulted tone, "Hum hum, Sinny, I believe you forgot two of us ladies."

With a poorly hidden snigger, Francine waved her wand again and Aurora and Gabrielle found themselves dressed as the others. Nodding to each other, both Angels grinned and started a clearly pre-prepared routine. "A – N – G – E – L – S, GO ANGELS."

Francine soon joined them, and Harry turned to the girls besides him saying on an exasperated tone, "And they're supposed to be the oldest ones here?" The only reply he got was that all four girls blew him a kiss and joined them, having quickly memorized the simple cheer moves.

Turning around, Harry looked at the men in his company with a hopeless look, only to get a few shrugs and Ivan who said, "I don't get you Harry, you see 7 extremely hot girls doing a bikini dance in front of you, and you are _complaining_? Try to act like a man and enjoy it, everyone else is doing it."

His words were true, as every single man, and a few women, in a 150-foot radius was looking at them and clearly enjoying the view. The only one who seemed a bit conflicted was Dan, who muttered, "Yea it's easy to enjoy, if one of those 7 wasn't your own bloody daughter."

"Oh, cheer up, Dan," Anderson grinned with a wink to Harry, "try to enjoy the show. That's an order."

A grumbled, "Yes Sir," was all Dan said before he turned back to the show.

After a minute or two, the four girls and three women had enough of being stared at and stopped their little 'show'. As they stepped back towards their husband, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny each gave him a kiss and Luna said, "I'm not kissing you," before giving him a hug. After a few seconds she let go and with a knowing grin she added, " _Now I know you enjoyed the show Harry_."

Harry turned bright red as the others realized what Luna meant and burst out laughing at Harry's expense, with the exception of Dan who had gotten a dark look. He was only restrained from saying something by Ivan who had a, 'I'm telling your wife if you say something', look on his face.

"All right, all right," Anderson spoke loudly to the gathered spectators, "Show is over people, I suggest we move on to the main event, we have a finale to play."

A boisterous cheer spread across the massive hangar and all turned their attention back to the prepared playing field where the two teams were already waiting to begin.

Anderson led their group down to the water level and to a place next to the playing field, to give them a good view.

Both teams were dressed in their swimwear, with Ivan's team being clearly recognizable by being all-female and wearing swimsuits in a same pattern as the red and black bikini's Francine and the others were now wearing.

The other team wore green with an orange wolf head on their caps and swimwear. Woolsey was acting as referee with Zhukovo and Moore as assistant referees.

The match played out more or less as everyone expected, every time the opposite team had the ball, Francine fired up her allure until the Black Angels team had recovered the ball and scored a goal. And since the rules of water polo did not prohibit the use of magic, all complains were useless.

45 minutes later, including breaks, the Angels were leading by 25 – 0 and Woolsey whistled the end of the match.

With an incredibly superior grin on his face, Ivan sauntered up to the rest of the celebrating Black Angels who had pulled their team out of the water and had handed them some towels and bathrobes. Hugging each of them in turn, Ivan congratulated them on their win and said how proud he was of them.

"Yes, yes, very well-done ladies," Gabrielle's voice interrupted their celebration. She and Aurora both carried a similarly big grin as Ivan and the others. Turning a little cheekily she added, "And I guess I found a new saying; _If you can't beat them, cheat them_."

An exuberant laughter spread through the hangar as everyone could see the fun in that. Now turning serious though, Aurora spoke next, "As you all know, we begin our attack tomorrow at dawn. So, for now, to the teams, well played and go get a shower. The rest of you, occupy yourselves for the next half hour. It is now," she looked at her watch as she said this, "20:34. I want everyone of you gathered on the flight deck at 21:00 for a full pre-mission briefing. Dismissed."

"MA'AM, YES MA'AM." All those in the hangar replied and surprisingly quickly, the hangar emptied until only Aurora and Gabrielle and their little group where left. Turning to the kids Gabrielle said, "Okay guys, let's get settled in. We arranged for rooms for all of us in the superstructure, so let's get to the elevator." They all followed her towards the elevator and then across the deck and into the superstructure.

They took the smaller elevator to the seventh floor and Gabrielle spoke again once they were in the small hallway with several doors on either side. "Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny, you four are on the far right. Dan, your room as the marine commander is on the left, one floor above us, Jean-Paul will be bunking with you for the time being. Ivan and Francine are on the left on this floor, and Luna will be staying with Gabrielle and me on our rooms on the floor above us.

Your bags have already been brought to your rooms, and I suggest you all change into your uniforms before we assemble on deck for the briefing." Turning to Jean-Paul she added, "The other delegates from the U.N.S.C. are housed on the other ship, and they'll be brought over before the briefing." They all nodded and headed to their rooms to change and freshen themselves up a bit.

At 20:55 the group reassembled in the hallway, now all were dressed in uniform, Luna having been given a uniform, combat boots, beret, belt with SILH and combat knife, and her Legion identification badge. Francine was likewise dressed in a simple standard uniform with boots and beret, but no weapons, for she was no member of the Legion, nor a trainee like the kids.

Jean-Paul wore something completely different though. He wore a neat navy-blue suit with a small French flag on the left breast pocket and the words U.N.S.C CIVILIAN OBSERVER embroidered in white on the back.

"Everybody ready?" Anderson asked in greeting as he stepped out of the elevator. When he got a positive reply, he nodded and motioned for the others to step into the elevator to go back down.

Once they reached the deck, they found the entire crew of the ship, all 2.500 men and women, standing ready at attention, and upon looking at the other ship, they saw the same situation there.

It lay a few hundred feet away, as close as possible, and they could see large video screens set up on deck. Waiting for them was a podium with a large screen just like the one they had used while briefing the Americans. Before the podium were several camera's whose images where shown on the large screens on the other ship.

Jean-Paul sat down next to 9 other civilians, all wearing the same suit as him, or the female version of it, with the flag of their respective country on their left breast pockets. There were 2 representatives for each of the permanent members, one magical and one muggle, to oversee the trials and give their reports to their respective governments.

Aurora had insisted that the condition for allowing this was that only the permanent members would send their representatives, and the reports would not be distributed to any country, or person not a permanent member of the U.N.S.C.. This had been enforced by each representative swearing a magical oath to only use specially prepared paper and ink for their reports. The reports had to be hand-written and the enchantments on both paper and ink, ensured that only a handful of authorized people would be able to read them. If not authorized, the paper would simply be blank to the eye.

The kids and Francine sat down on six chairs that had been set apart for them on the front row, while Dan, Ivan and Anderson followed Aurora and Gabrielle up on the podium to stand with the rest of the high command. Anderson, Woolsey, Zhukovo, Wolff, Moore, Azov, Dan, and Ivan sat down on a row of chairs on the side of the podium.

Aurora walked towards the lectern with the microphone, while Gabrielle went to stand next to her. "Good evening everyone, welcome to the pre-mission briefing of 'Operation Turkey Shoot'." A soft snigger could be heard as the first slide was shown on the screen, a cartoon of a masked legionnaire in a Mark-7, holding a Saiga-12 shotgun aimed at a turkey dressed as a U.S. Marine.

"Creative isn't it," Aurora grinned before moving on with the briefing. "The first to move out will be the submarines and the Drones, who will be launched at midnight to get to their designated area's in time.

The drones will map the combat area above the water, while the subs will do the same underwater. I want a detailed and complete map of the island, and the surrounding water, in a 35-mile radius, including all hostile ships both surface and submerged, ready in the war room at daybreak.

Furthermore, I want all Osprey's that have not yet been equipped with submarine detection systems, to be given them before 05:00 tomorrow. I want to be able to deploy a complete search and detection screen around our location before 08:00.

For the sub marine crews, you are to tag each Los Angeles class submarine you find with a tracker, so we can follow their movements on the war map.

At exactly 08:30, I want everything to be ready to strike. If everything goes as planned, and we can get the location of all their ships, we'll be done with the naval part maybe early in the evening tomorrow."

"Isn't that a bit optimistic?" Jean-Paul asked after raising his hand and being given permission to speak.

With a grin Aurora replied, "You haven't seen the test results of our new cannons, so allow me to show you." Ticking a few keys on the laptop before her, Aurora had soon found the relevant file and opened a media-player. She played a video of the testing of the Rail-cannon they had witnessed at Area 51 last year.

After the video was done, Aurora shut the video down and reopened the presentation. "As you could see representative Delacour, the Rail-cannon is capable of utterly obliterating a modern bunker. And that was only a 150 mm, our tanks carry _two_ 180 mm Rail-cannons. Each one of our MPACS carries twelve 450 mm Rail-cannons, and sixteen 300 mm Rail-cannons. A single salvo will obliterate a medium-sized town, so blowing a Nimitz-class out of the water with a few shots is a piece of cake."

Jean-Paul nodded weakly along with the other representatives, none of whom had anymore objections.

"As I was saying," Aurora continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "if everything goes as planned, we should be done by early evening. This means that we can start the bombardment at nightfall, and have it last till dawn. After that we'll give them 24 hours to fortify the ruins and to prepare their defenses.

This means that two days from now, at dawn, we are going to step onboard of the Osprey's, or on the hovercrafts, and I will be asking you to assault a heavily fortified position. It will be defended by men and women who might have been friends of you, and those men and women will be shooting at you with live ammunition." Those last words drew a surprised murmur from the crowd, until Aurora raised her arms for silence.

"I know that we have told them, and you, that we'll be giving them paint rounds, and we have. But those are only the heavy weapons, the bazooka's, artillery- and tank shells, rockets and torpedoes. All the small arms ammunition, for the M16's, the M240's, the .50 cal, all of those others will be live ammunition.

Your EXO's will protect you against those smaller rounds, but the experience will not be pleasant. I know some of you might have reservations about that, some of you might fear it, and I understand, I really do. But we need to make sure that everything works as it should. If any of you do not wish to participate in this I will understand. We need to know for sure, that none of you will break under fire, and I am confident that none of you will. Anyone of you who do not wish to continue, are free to say so now and you are free to go. But if you do go, you're going for good."

She waited for a few minutes in silence, but as she and the others had expected, none chose to leave. "Thank you, all of you." She said heartfelt. "Now get some sleep and ready your gear. We begin at daybreak tomorrow and I would have you all well rested. And remember this, we may be outnumbered, they might think us outgunned, but they are the ones that are outmatched. They may have the numbers, but we will overcome them, FOR WE ARE LEGION."

"WE ARE LEGION," Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny roared in reply, along with all the thousands of others. Tomorrow was no doubt going to be an interesting day.

Shortly after everyone was dismissed and the kids followed Aurora and Gabrielle back towards their rooms. They said goodnight to Luna and the others as they stepped out of the elevator and entered their room again.

After Ginny closed the door, they turned to each other and Hermione said softly, "So tomorrow it begins."

"Yes," Fleur nodded and said on the same tone, "tomorrow it begins."

"I wonder what they'll expect of us," Hermione asked as softly as the other two.

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow." Harry sighed before moving over to the bed and starting to undress until he was in his boxers and pulled back the covers of the bed. The girls soon joined him, and they cuddled up close together, the bed being a far bit smaller than their own at home or at Hogwarts.

Early the next morning, the quartet was woken by Aurora who shook them softly and said, "Wake up kids, get dressed and put on your EXO's, breakfast is ready in our room."

Shortly after they heard the door of their room close and Harry stretched himself out before kissing each of his girls on the lips. "Good morning my sleeping beauties."

"Mmmh, good morning," they each replied in turn before kissing the others and stretching themselves out.

"What time is it?" Fleur asked a bit groggily as she looked at the darkness visible through the small portholes.

Looking at his watch, which lay on the bedside table, Harry replied, "05:00. About an hour before sunrise."

"Way to early," Fleur whined, before stepping from under the covers, giving Harry a good look at her gorgeous body. To Harry's utter delight, the three girls had continued to go to bed wearing only a bra and knickers. They had also decided to wear the same every day, so the black lacy set Fleur currently wore, was the same as Hermione and Ginny wore.

"Gods you three are beautiful," Harry muttered, causing all three to blush a bit before he regretfully saw their bodies disappear beneath the skintight suits that formed the first layer of the EXO's. shaking his head softly, Harry joined them in getting dressed and soon they were helping each other with the many loose pieces of their power armor.

Once they were all dressed, Hermione led them out of their room and up to Aurora and Gabrielle's where they met the others already assembled. Luna, Dan, Ivan and Francine were already seated around the table, while Aurora and Gabrielle stood at the desk in the corner talking mentally, judging by their silence and unblinking eye-contact.

"Sit down kids," Dan said while suppressing a yawn. "you guys took your sweet time, so we have already started, I suggest you hurry." They did as he said, and they sat down in the empty chairs next to Luna, quickly piling their plates with eggs, toast, bacon and beans and digging in.

It took a few minutes for Aurora and Gabrielle to sit down and join them, but once they did, Gabrielle came straight to business. "I expect all five of you to be on your best behavior, I hope I don't have to remind you of the conversation we had at the manor about the consequences if you don't."

All five children nodded understandingly, and Gabrielle continued. "Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny, you four stick to the background as much as possible, don't get in the way and only speak when spoken to." The four nodded and Gabrielle turned to Luna.

"Luna sweetheart, you stay with Francine and do as she does. Neither of you are part of the Legion yet and so you will be limited to the spectator areas, along with the U.N.S.C. representatives." Both Luna and Francine nodded, indicating they understood.

"Good," Aurora took over while checking her watch. "It's 05:45, we have less than fifteen minutes remaining before we begin. So, finish your breakfast quickly as we can't be late."

A few minutes later they all stood up and made their way to the flight deck. As they walked out of the superstructure Hermione asked curiously, "Do the ships actually have a name of their own, or do you simply call them MPACS's?"

With a little confusion on their faces, Aurora and Gabrielle looked at each other before turning back to the others with an apologetic look. "We're so sorry kids, we thought we had already told you." Pointing upwards, the others followed her fingers and saw a word written in large white letters that they had totally missed up to this point.

In letters four feet tall was written, 'L. C. S. 1 ARTHUR.'

"This is the 'Legion Command Ship 1 Arthur'," Aurora said, "and the other one is called the 'L. C. S. 2 Merlin'. They were named after a popular vote by the entire legion."

"Does seem fitting," Fleur commented thoughtfully. "without either of those two, the Legion wouldn't exist. If not for Merlin, you would never have met, and if not for Arthur, he would never have given you the incentive to found the Legion."

"Hmm," Gabrielle grinned smugly, "that was nearly identical to the explanation Anderson gave when he suggested it."

As a reward for her answer, Fleur got a kiss from the other three while the group arrived at the flight deck. There they found the U.N. representatives, and Anderson and the rest of high command waiting for them.

"Good morning everyone," Aurora greeted them, "are you all ready to begin?" when they all replied in the affirmative, she turned around and led them towards the same podium as last night. She picked the microphone from its stand and as it was still connected to the ship's comm. system, she could use it to speak to the entire crew.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well rested and ready to go, as today is the day. Today we prove to the U.N.S.C. that we can deliver on what we have promised them. We will show them that we are the best of the best, and we will show them that no matter how the odds are stacked against us, we will overcome them, and we will be victorious. Good luck everyone, I know you will make us all proud."

A dimmed cheer could be heard from all around them and Aurora placed the microphone back on its stand, while a group of sailors were already working on breaking down the podium to clear the flight deck. Further away, on the bow of the ship, the first Osprey's where already being brought up from the hangar below and made ready to lift off.

Gabrielle led the group towards the war-room, while most of the U.N. representatives split off to inspect other parts of the operation, only Jean-Paul and two others stayed with them.

Once back in the war-room, Jean-Paul and the other two representatives took a seat in the three chairs that were put aside for them against the back of the room, along with Luna and Francine. Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny where send to a second set of chairs placed against one of the other walls and took a seat there.

As soon as everyone was seated Aurora and Gabrielle looked at each other and said as one, "Let's begin."

Author's note,

Yeaa we're back, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out to you all.

But here you have it, everything is in place and the next chapter is the 'battle'. I promise I'll do my best to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.

And as always, please let me know what you all think. I love reviews.

MM


	34. Chapter 34

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 33

 _As soon as everyone was seated Aurora and Gabrielle looked at each other and said as one, "Let's begin."_

They turned to the gathered group of officers and technicians and Aurora said, "Ladies, gentlemen, start the table and let's begin. I want to be able to fire the first shots at 08:00, so we have two hours to figure out our strategy."

They all nodded and several of the technicians took their places behind consoles and computer terminals and after a minute or so, the large table in the centre of the room was suddenly covered by a perfect 3D scale model of their target island and all the surrounding sea. Little flags where located above each of the miniscule ships they could see, each flag carrying the class and name of the ship.

"Nice," Gabrielle whistled while inspecting the model. "Looks like Boltrock made use of the Marauders' 3D modeling. Wonder if it has a zoom function." To test it out, she turned to the room at large and said, "Zoom to the _U.S.S. Nimitz_." As ordered, the table zoomed to the location of the American flagship.

"That is our first target." Aurora took over from her wife, and went over to explaining the details of their plan to the other commanders. "We take out the line of command from top to bottom. The Americans think their Aircraft carriers invincible, because they are the backbone of their fleet and heavily guarded against both guided and unguided missiles and enemy planes. We'll prove them wrong. At exactly 08:00 we fire the first salvo from both ships, directly at the _Nimitz,_ next we target in order, the _Abraham Lincoln,_ the _George Washington,_ and the _Carl Vinson._

Judging by the position of their ships, they know roughly from which direction we are coming. They have placed the majority of their larger ships on the south-eastern side of the island, directly facing us. This makes it easy for us to target and neutralize their largest ships, because we don't have to shoot over the island and risk hitting it. Their anti-air defenses are utterly useless against a projectile coming at them at speeds in excess of 15,000 mph.

So, to make it short, we are first going to take out the four _Nimitz-_ class carriers, then we move up to the _Ticonderoga_ -class cruisers, and finally the _Arleigh Burke-_ class destroyers. The Osprey'swill deal with the _Los-Angeles-_ class submarines. We'll be using specially designed depth charges that will give them one hell of a scare, but won't actually hurt or endanger them.

The most of our time today will be spend with getting into proper firing positions to hit the ships on the other side of the island."

Picking up a 5-foot-long aluminum pointer, Aurora prepared to indicate certain positions on the table. "Zoom out till our current position is visible." The table did as she said and once they had their position, she continued. "We are now here," indicating the two-winged skulls flying over the _Merlin_ and the _Arthur._ "We will proceed full speed ahead to here, and here," pointing to two separate points about 50 miles apart and maybe 150 miles from the island.

Once there, the scouts of the American jetfighters will probably have spotted us, so we can expect some heavy counterattacking by their air-wings. Our air defenses are more than capable of dealing with those, so we focus the big guns on taking out the carriers.

Once all four carriers are disabled and their planes taken care of, we move, shooting and disabling their ships as we go, to here and here." she indicated two positions, one on the north-east and the other on the south-west of the island. "Once there we will be in position to take out the remaining ships the Americans will have left by then."

All the commanders around them nodded in agreement and Gabrielle continued where her wife had left off. "Once we have taken care of their ships, we return to positions here and here," while she said this Aurora pointed to two spots about fifty miles from the island and about a mile apart. "We will begin the bombardment by nightfall and have it last all through the night.

An hour before daybreak, day after tomorrow, I want the 1st and 2nd marine regiment standing ready to be deployed. Same goes for the Mammoths and the BMP's. We want the BMP's to be brought in by Zubr, while the Mammoth's will be taken by the Mil-Mi's.

Each Zubr will take eight BMP's and three platoons of marines. It's gonne be a tight fit, but speed is of the essence, we need to overwhelm them as soon as possible. Cover for the Zubr's and the Osprey's will come from their camouflage, which will only be removed once the beaches are secured. I want the 1st regiment fully deployed on the beaches before daybreak.

The 2nd regiment will be deployed by Osprey. I want all the Mark-9's to stay on board, we are not going to be using them for this operation."

At the mention of the Mark-9's, all five kids and Francine looked up with a grin, remembering the hulking walkers they had seen in the armor hangar the day before.

 _Flashback,_

 _As the group walked into the water level hangar, the first thing that sprung out was the Mammoths, by far the biggest land vehicles any of them had ever seen. But as they moved through the hangar, they got to one of the sides and saw something new, something very awe-inspiring._

 _Against the walls, standing at roughly 14 feet tall were a series of EXO-suits the size of a troll. Each suit had the rough shape of a human, with arms, legs, hands, and feet, but no head. On the place of the head was a short-barrel M242 Bushmaster autocannon. Attached to the left underarm was a Mk 19 grenade launcher. Attached to the right arm was a flamethrower, with a magically enlarged and disposable tank on the lower back holding 150 gallons of napalm._

 _The most surprising for most was the weaponry placed besides each suit. A rectangular shield, of six by ten foot, a sword that looked more like a chainsaw with a titanium-toothed chain running over a 7 foot long blade, and the main gun. An M61 Vulcan rotary cannon adjusted to be carried in hand, with the power line and armored ammo belt replaced by a small Dragonstone and a permanent, trigger activated, gemini charm giving it practically unlimited ammunition._

" _What in my grandfather's name are these?" Harry askew with awe in his voice._

 _With an ominous chuckle Boltrock appeared from behind one of the suits and answered, "These,_ _Mister_ _Potter, are the Mark-9 Heavy support EXO suits, codenamed Paladins. Each one is piloted by a goblin and they are designed to give direct heavy fire support on the front lines. They are armed with either a shield and chainsword, or with an M61 Vulcan, as both_ _are_ _a bit overkill and unpractical to carry into battle._

 _The pilot is wearing a special motion detection suit in_ _a_ _heavily armored cockpit. The suit transfers the pilot's movements to a computer core which then makes the suit replicate that movement. This allows for full body movement of the suit and a degree of flexibility that would otherwise be impossible. A well trained and experienced pilot can take on a giant with a Mark-9 and walk away with little more than a scratch."_

" _Now that is cool," the quartet said as one and Luna nodded enthusiastically in agreement._

" _Uh huh," Boltrock replied. "And the nice thing is, we can fold them up, so they can hang on the back of a BMP, or be carried under an Osprey, though they won't fit in the cargo hold."_

" _How many of them are there on board?" Ginny asked curiously._

" _Two for each platoon," Aurora answered, "so sixty in total for a full regiment._ _"_

 _End flashback._

A small murmur came from the gathered officers until Colonel Wolff asked, "But why not? Surely they would be of great help during the landing?"

"They would colonel," Aurora replied, "but they are so futuristic and powerful that we do not believe the world as a whole is ready to see them in action just jet. Stories will undoubtedly spread of the weapons we will bring to this fight, but there are some we want to keep for ourselves for now."

Wolff nodded in acknowledgment and Aurora took over to explain their battle plan. "Anyway, the final details of the landing will be discussed tomorrow morning, for now I say let's get this show on the road. I'm very anxious to pull the trigger and watch these babies shoot their first rounds, even if they are paint rounds." A round of cheers came in reply and looking at her watch, Aurora saw it was nearly 07:00.

"All right, in one hour I want to fire the first shot, until then, you all have your orders, see to them."

"Yes Ma'am," came the reply and most not stationed in the room left it to see to their tasks. Once those were gone, Aurora and Gabrielle turned to the kids and Gabrielle said, "You four come with us, we want to show you something." Turning to Jean-Paul and the others she added, "You may follow if you want, or stay here, your choice."

All chose to come, and Aurora and Gabrielle led the group down on to the flight deck and then walked towards the front right cannon turret. Once there, Aurora opened a double steel door on the back and showed them the inner workings of the cannon.

There were two mechanics inside, both of whom saluted before going back to their work, performing some last-minute maintenance to make sure everything was functioning as it should. The thing they want to show though was placed directly beneath the two cannons, the automatic loading system.

"Good morning gentlemen," Aurora greeted the mechanics after she and Gabrielle saluted them back, "could you call up one of the rounds for me, we would like to show them to our guests."

"Of course Ma'am," one of them replied and after pushing a few buttons, a slot opened on the right gun and using a ceiling crane with a switch on/switch off sticking charm, he lifted the round from the cannon and lowered it on the ground setting it upright, where it stood 5 foot tall.

"Merlin's shorts," Ginny muttered at seeing the round, "that thing is bloody huge."

"Yea right," Aurora grinned, neglecting to remark on Ginny's mention of her father's pants for the sake of their visitors, as contrary to Jean-Paul, the two U.N. representatives did not know who she and Gabrielle really were.

"How much paint is in that thing?" Hermione asked while calculating the dimensions in her head.

Chuckling softly Gabrielle replied, "Enough to paint a quarter of the side of a _Ticonderoga_ -class. So, we'll need to be a bit careful with not hitting the deck of the American ships, but the aiming system will take care of that for us. Besides they are rather hard to mi…."

Her words were interrupted by a loud siren, followed swiftly by the ship coming into motion beneath them. To the surprise of most, who's first trip this was, the ship accelerated rather quickly. Within 5 minutes the top speed was reached and the _Merlin_ and the _Arthur_ shot through the ocean with 45 knots.

At exactly 07:55, the _Merlin_ came to a halt on the pre-determined position and was facing the port side towards their target area. The six squadrons on deck, each with 10 Ospreys, took off and started their task of hunting down the _Los-Angeles_ class submarine, aided by the beacons placed on them by their own mini-submarines.

As soon as the deck was empty, all eight turrets were turned towards the island and the starboard turrets were elevated using their hydraulics until they were able to shoot directly over the port-side turrets.

In the war-room everyone was once more gathered and Aurora took the lead, "All guns of the _Merlin,_ target the _U.S.S. Nimitz_ five foot above the waterline, then aim for the _U.S.S George Washington._ All guns of the _Arthur_ , target the _U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln,_ before moving on to the _U.S.S. Carl Vinson_." An affirmative reply soon came and looking at her watch she saw it was 07:59.

She and Gabrielle silently counted down the last few seconds and at the stroke of 08:00, both said at the same time, "Fire," and all hell broke loose.

150 miles from there, Admiral Newport was looking intently at the radar screen, searching for any indication of their adversaries' presence. Suddenly a small swarm of several dozen dots appeared on the screen. "Admiral, are you seeing this?"

Before he could respond, more than a dozen tremors shot through the massive ship. "What was that?" came from several directions and Admiral Newport led his bridge crew outside.

"What happened?" Newport asked a passing sailor.

"We were hit sir, but we don't know by what yet." The sailor replied.

As they were running over the deck, a small parachute came down with a metal cylinder and landed close to the Admiral. One of the officers next to him picked it up and screwed it open, pulling a short note from with in. Handing him the note, he accepted it and read,

 _Hello George,_

 _Congratulations you have the honor of being the first ship to be hit and 'sunk'. By the time you have finished reading this line, all of your carriers have been hit and taken out of the fight._

As to prove a point, an officer came running on to the balcony attached to the bridge and yelled, "Admiral sir, the _George Washington,_ the _Abraham Lincoln,_ and the _Carl Vinson_ have been hit by similar objects as us." Feeling a sense of dread creep into his stomach, Newport turned back to the letter in his hand.

 _You probably just stopped reading to hear the news from one of you minions, so by now we have moved on to your cruisers. By the end of the day we will have taken out your entire fleet. Please pass on the word to the marines that we will began our bombardment at nightfall, so they are to make sure that every living being is off the island by then._

 _I hope that by now you have realized why we are calling this Operation Turkey Shoot, we have the shotgun, and you guys are the turkeys. We'll see you at the end._

 _A & G. _

Cursing softly under his breath, Newport crumbled the note and said, "It would appear that all of our carriers have been taken out of the fight. Apparently, our defenses are useless in countering whatever weapon they are using against us."

Back onboard the _Merlin_ , Aurora and Gabrielle were extremely pleased as the reports started coming in. "They're losing ships with every volley we fire, it won't be long until they start firing their own attacks. The carriers may have been neutralized, but their air wings have been launched, so we can expect some incoming missiles any time now."

And indeed, barely five minutes later, an air-alarm was sounded around the ship and when Gabrielle ordered the table to zoom to their ship, they could see several dozen fighter jets approach them at high speeds.

"Show wards," Aurora said coolly and suddenly a kind of 'bubble within a bubble within a bubble' appeared around the ship. The ship was directly in the middle with the 'bubbles' at set distances from the ship, at 1 mile, 2 miles, and 5 miles. Taking the pointer from earlier, Aurora indicated each bubble in turn.

"The outer wards are our distortion, disinformation, and disorientation fields, messing with radar, cameras, microphones, observation charms, show-me-the-way charms, and all other kinds of espionage or detection devices. Location or GPS devices, and most importantly, the guiding systems of guided missiles and torpedoes are deep-fried by these, this includes both muggle technologies and magical devices.

The middle wards serve a dual purpose, they will stop whatever crosses them with ill-intent, including living beings, spells, missiles, gasses, fumes, toxins, anything. The second purpose is to contain what comes from the inner wards.

The inner wards work in tandem with the middle, creating a dead-zone that destroys and/or neutralizes everything non-organic trying to enter it. Non-magical animals, muggles, and non-threatening magical animals can pass through these ward without risk of danger. Magicals need to carry either a Mark of the Legion tattoo, an MSS badge or have to be told by either myself or Gabrielle personally about the MPACS to be able to pass through these wards.

Our anti-air defenses are designed to take out any threat between the middle and outer wards. Taking advantage of the effects of the outer wards, they destroy whatever enters the middle wards and is not marked as 'friendly'."

To prove her point, she waved to the table and they could see that the American planes where nearly upon them. Maybe a mile from the outer wards, not that the Americans knew about them, nearly half-a-hundred missiles were fired from the jet fighters. They all watched as the missiles made it through the outer wards, immediately noticing that their flight path went a bit wonky. As soon as they entered the dead-zone, they saw the missiles disappearing within seconds.

A few seconds later, the planes themselves entered the outer wards and they too began disappearing at a prodigious speed.

4 miles above them, the American pilots were to say the least, shocked. Not only were their missiles shot out of the sky, but now they found themselves under an amount of anti-air fire none of them had ever encountered before. They had received very clear instructions from the Admiral, they were to search for and destroy their targets, using whatever means necessary to complete this task. It was not said out loud by anyone, but the majority of the sailors was becoming convinced that the admiral saw this not only as a military exercise, but a personal urge to prove himself and his fleet to the U.N.S.F.

No matter how they turned, twisted, or evaded, within minutes all planes were covered in red splotches of paint. The sounds they had made on impact sounded unnervingly real, but no damage was done and no real casualties were sustained, though they had to, according to the rules of the exercise, return to their carriers.

A kind of shock spread about the pilots until the Wing commander said dryly, "Well, that was an utter disaster."

"You can say that again Major," answered a Lieutenant.

"So much for us being the most bad-ass motherfuckers out there." Said a third.

"I guess that's why they decided to call this, 'Operation Turkey shoot',' said one of the veterans of the squadron. "I feel like a bloody rooky again."

"Yeah,' the others all agreed.

"Let's get the hell out of here and get back to 'Old Salt'," the Major said before turning his paint-covered F/A-18 hornet around and flying back to the _USS Nimitz_.

During the flight back, the group was remarkably subdued until the _USS Nimitz_ came back into sight. "What in the fiery pits of Hell happened here?" the Major swore as they saw their carrier laying ahead of them. One side of the ship was completely covered by red paint, as where practically all ships they could see nearby.

"Hmm," remarked a sergeant, "I guess we were not the only ones getting our asses kicked today, huh Major."

"No shit smart-ass." Said Major replied before adding, "Let's just get back down on the flight deck and find out how the rest are doing.

"Yes sir," came the reply from the others and they turned around for a proper route of approach to land.

As soon as his F/A-18 had landed and was parked, the Major climbed out and headed directly for the bridge where he found Admiral Newport sitting with a downcast look and holding a cup of coffee.

"Admiral, what the hell is going on out here, if this had been real combat, none of my men would have made it out of there alive, we got slaughtered. I think we deserve an explanation sir, what kind of army are we up against? You know them, or at least you know their leaders." On a softer tone, so only the Admiral could hear him he added, "I know that you know dad, it's them isn't it? The ones you told me about from your time in Vietnam."

Looking upwards to his son, Admiral Newport nodded silently and said softly, "It's them all right. I'm so sorry son, I thought we had this, but it would seem that I have severely underestimated their capabilities. They did some pretty crazy stuff in 'Nam, but I never expected them to be capable of this."

George Newport Junior nodded softly before asking, "What is the situation of the rest of the fleet?"

"We're done for Major," the Admiral replied out loud. "We've lost 63% of the fleet already, and I'm guessing they will have finished with what remains before nightfall. All we can do now, is wait and pray that the marines can stop them from claiming the island, though from what they showed us, I really doubt it."

His prediction proved to be true, as by 16:43, the last _Arleigh Burke_ -class destroyer was hit and neutralized. Five minutes later Aurora's voice came over every single speaker onboard of every single ship in the fleet.

"Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, it may not please you to have lost this exercise, but it does please me greatly to see that all of our ships, and equipment are functioning exemplary. I would like to thank each and every one of you for help, your efforts, and your dedication to your duty.

As per your previous orders, all ships are to fall back to the North-Eastern side of island, while we prepare for our invasion. Our bombardment will begin at 21:00 exactly and last until 22:00. The island is off-limits for any and all human beings during the bombardment. Tonight after 22:30, the Marines will move in with all of their equipment and fortify the island. They will have eight hours to do so. Tomorrow at 06:30 we attack. Good luck everyone, General Emrys, out."

On board of the _Merlin_ Harry looked a bit confused at his mother and said, "Uh mom, didn't you say that the invasion would not begin until the day after tomorrow?" When Aurora nodded he added, "But then why did you just say that we would attack tomorrow morning?"

With a grin Aurora replied, "To quote Field Marshal von Moltke, 'No plan survives contact with the enemy'. The Legionnaires have been told until now that they will have another day to prepare. This means that a certain degree of improvisation will be required of them. It is just part of the test of their abilities." Nodding in understanding, Harry had to agree that it did indeed make sense to test the ability to improvise of the Legionnaires.

The rest of that day went by rather quickly for the those onboard of the MPACS, preparations for the bombardment where being made and because of their U.N.S.C. guests, only solid projectiles where being prepared for firing. The High Explosive and more importantly, the Hellfire rounds had been left behind on Avalon to prevent word of them getting out to the U.N.S.C. since, as Aurora had said, they were not officially allowed to have weapons of mass destruction, but what the U.N.S.C. doesn't knows, won't hurt them.

At precisely 21:00 all cannons opened fire towards the island and over the course of the next hour, they covered it in shell after shell. The Gemini charms on the cannons allowed for a continues barrage without leaving any munition as evidence, as the shells disappeared after a few minutes.

The table had been zoomed in to the island and they could see the destruction being wrought upon the defenses as it happened. Entire bunker complexes were shot to pieces by the 450 mm guns and the kids were looking in awe. "I'm glad we're not on the receiving end of that." Ginny muttered, causing a grin from the adults.

They watched in silence for a few more minutes until Aurora turned to the five kids. "And now we split up before you all head for bed Luna, you go with Gabrielle we have a task for you for tomorrow" Luna nodded and after saying goodnights the others, she followed Gabrielle out of the room. Turning to the quartet Aurora continued, "And you four are coming with me, we have something for you as well before you go to bed."

The kids nodded and said goodnight before following Aurora out of the room. They took the elevator down to the flight deck and then taking another elevator, went to level -6 the armories and workshops for the EXO's of the Marines.

Once they arrived there, Aurora led them trough the armory and towards the workshops for the EXO's. The armory was a series of many large rooms filled with racks upon racks full of weapons of surprisingly little variation, though with many chests and racks with spare parts.

To the kids' surprise, they are met at the workshops by Boltrock. With a large grin, Boltrock opened his arms and said, "Welcome to my play ground, I have some new toys for you four to play with." With those words, he motioned towards a cloth-covered table standing in the middle of the workshop.

Pulling the cloth away from the table, he revealed four identical sets of what appeared to be enough spare parts to construct several rifles. With more than a little pride in his voice, Boltrock said, "May I present, the Legion's very own personal weapon system, the MWS, or Modular Weapon System. Basically, it exists of a firing mechanism with three different stands, single fire, triple fire, and full automatic. All other parts are fully exchangeable, the stock, grip, trigger, magazines, barrel, sight, receiver, all can be changed by preference of the user."

Taking over the explanation, Aurora continued, "This gives us one weapon with parts that can be easily changed allowing for much easier production and replacement of parts. Each MWS can be changed into an SMG, a sniper, an assault rifle, a heavy machinegun, anything the user might need. The parts for each configuration are held in an armored case that can be enlarged and shrunk at the touch of a button and is attached to the lower back of a Mark-7 for easy access."

Taking over again Boltrock continued, "Each magazine holds three different rounds of the size of a .50 BMG, changeable by a switch located on the magazine itself. These are; standard armor-piercing/high explosive, silver for use against werewolves, and of course the Hellfire rounds, each equipped with a Gemini charm so no need to reload.

However, for tomorrow you will be using this type of magazine," he handed them each one of these, a saddle-drum magazine capable of holding 100 rounds, they had to keep up appearances to the muggles after all, "which holds only paint rounds. These you will use during all the training exercises you will be put through, until the Ladies say otherwise."

"And Gabrielle and I have decided that it is high time we move your training to the next level." Aurora continued, "Each of you will get a complete version of the MWS. Right now, I'll teach you how to put it in the assault rifle configuration, because that is what you are going to be using tomorrow." Looking up quickly with excitement, the kids grinned to each other before turning back to Aurora.

Grinning back at them Aurora went on, "Because tomorrow you four will be serving under Ivan, while he leads the first wave of the attack. If you do well, and Ivan gives us a good report about you, we will begin teaching you how to properly handle a sword."

"YES," all four said as one and Harry made fist-pump. Aurora couldn't suppress a chuckle, as they had been begging her and Gabrielle to teach them ever since their second trip to the vault during their first year.

Over the next hour, Aurora, with the help of Boltrock, taught the four kids how to assemble and disassemble the assault rifle configuration. After that, they were each given an armored case and shown how to place the spare pieces into it on their correct places until only the assault rifles where left on the table.

As they were walking back to their rooms, after thanking Boltrock, Harry asked, "Ehh mom?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Is Luna getting one of these as well," he indicated the rifle he held in his right hand, "and are you going to train her in sword fighting too?"

Looking down on her son with a fond smile Aurora replied, "Yes Harry, Luna will get one as well and she will train with you, but she will have a different job tomorrow, as we don't want her on the front lines just yet."

Seeing Harry was about to interrupt her, she raised her hand and said, "Not because we don't trust her, for we do, and we don't doubt her either, but we do not want to put her under that kind of stress in front of a massive muggle audience. We are not certain how she will react during such a stressful situation, so we prefer her first exposure to battle being one that _we_ can dictate. She will have a different part to play, which you will find out about in the morning."

Nodding silently in acceptance, the kids followed Aurora back to their own room where she left them with the words, "Now get to bed you four, we will wake you tomorrow when it is time to get up."

They each gave her a hug before entering their room and helped each other with removing the many pieces of their EXO's before going to bed and quickly falling asleep, tomorrow would be an interesting day.

The next morning, at 04:00 Harry and the girls where awoken by Gabrielle who gently shook them awake and said, "Time to get up kids, get dressed and meet us in our rooms for breakfast, we leave in 75 minutes."

Quickly wringing the sleep from their eyes, the kids almost immediately filled with excitement, today they would prove their parents and the others that they were worthy of their training, today they would make them proud.

They quickly helped each other dress and twenty minutes later they left their room, bringing only their weapons. Once they made it to the floor above, they found the others already seated and they quickly joined them. During breakfast Gabrielle asked the quartet, "Are you wearing your wands?"

All four nodded and she continued, "Please hand them over, we don't want to risk you accidently casting anything in distress." The four nodded and reluctantly unstrapped their wand holsters from both arms and handed them to Gabrielle who placed them in a pouch on her belt and said, "I'll keep them safe for you."

During the rest of breakfast very little was said and soon they were done. As they finished their last bites, Aurora stood up and touching her ear-piece she addressed both her table and the entirety of the Legion, "Good morning everyone, I hope you all slept well. Today, we go to show the world why we are the best of the best. Today we go to test your mettle in combat. Today, I know that each and every one of you will make us proud to call you our brothers and sisters. Go to your assigned embarking areas, and prepare yourselves, for battle, and victory."

Closing the connection again, she looked at the others and said, "It's time, are you ready?" the others all gave her a nod and one by one they stood up from the table.

"We're ready mom," Luna said with a smile before grabbing Aurora and Gabrielle's hands in her own. "we'll make you proud today."

"We already are sweetheart," Gabrielle said with a gentle smile of her own. Turning to the others she added, "Let's go we all have our tasks."

She and Aurora led the others out of their rooms and towards the elevator, all-the-while still holding Luna's hands.

Once they made it to the flight deck they saw a mass of activity taking place. Squads of Legionnaires where assembling around the readied Ospreys and the Mill-Mi's where preparing to pick up their loads. The Apache's where likewise readied for take-off.

When she risked a peek over the side, Fleur saw that far beneath them, the ocean was calm and gently flowing.

Looking up at the dark sky Aurora said, "It is going to be a warm and clear day, I don't like it." Turning to Luna she said with a cheeky grin, "You think you can do something about that sweetie."

"It would be my pleasure mom," Luna replied with a sparkle in her silver eyes and Hermione, Fleur and Ginny gasped in realization as Harry said,

"So that's what Luna is going to do."

"Uh huh," Gabrielle replied. "So, let's get going shall we." They followed Ivan towards a pair of Osprey's that stood a little apart from the others. The Black Angels where standing around the Ospreys, apparently waiting for them as they all stood up straight and saluted when they saw them coming.

"At ease," Aurora said and they all relaxed before she continued, "You all know your job today, keep an eye on our kids, and bringing us the Generals Patrick O'Hara and Alexander Jackson."

"Wait, we get to kidnap their commanding generals?" Harry asked excitedly. When both the ladies nodded he chuckled a bit darkly and added, "That's gonna be epic."

The others joined in his chuckle and after a minute Gabrielle said, "Yes Harry, you and the girls will have the task of capturing the two generals and delivering them to us, the Black Angels will be there to guard your backs and to judge your efforts. So, no slacking and bribing Ivan is not going to work, because he made a magical oath to give us an honest report about your performance."

"Yes," added Aurora, "and besides, every mask is equipped with an audio and visual recording rune-set, so we can see and hear everything you are doing."

"Yea sure," Muttered Ginny, "suck the fun out of everything."

"Relax kids." Gabrielle grinned in response, "We have 3,000 Legionnaires to keep an eye on, so our time to spy on you will be limited."

"Yes, but enough chatting," Aurora interrupted her wife, "it is time to go." Indeed, everywhere around them the other Osprey's where lifting off and the Mill-Mi's and the Apache's where likewise departing.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Luna gave the quartet a big hug and wished them good luck, while the quartet wished Luna the same. Afterwards, Ivan quickly ushered them into the Osprey where the other Black Angels where already seated.

As the hatch slowly closed behind them, Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny waved goodbye to the trio that stayed behind, who waved back at them. When the hatch was closed, the pilot pulled the throttle fully open and the aircraft lifted itself from the deck. As they rose, they turned sideways and through the small windows, they could see Aurora and Gabrielle still waving at them. Luna had disappeared but soon they saw the magnificent form of Tempestea soaring through the sky above the deck and they could not suppress a grin.

Ivan cleared his throat to get their attention and when he had it, he said, "I have a last addition to your gear." As he spoke, Lieutenant Saint-Claire and Captain Frost stood up and handed each of the kids one of the helmets that belonged with their Mark-7's. After they had put them on they once more turned back to Ivan who now carried a rather amused smirk.

"We are not allowed to give you the official skull-masks yet, but I managed to convince Anderson to give me permission to give you these." He handed them each a wrapped parcel and said, "Happy Birthday in advance from Anderson, Dan, and myself."

They tore the wrapping off and could not help but be torn between awe and bursting out laughing. Each of them held one of the Legion's masks, but instead of the normal skull design, these carried something else.

Each mask was painted white, with the face of a ghost on it in black, but they were not scary at all, on the contrary, they were funny and cartoonlike. Hermione's had a pair of glasses, pursed lips, and, dare they say it, carried somewhat of a resemblance to Professor McGonagall.

Fleur's bore a remarkable resemblance to the face of a Barbie doll, with full lips, blushing cheeks, and large painted-on eyes and eyebrows.

Ginny's was perhaps the most normal of the four, carrying a big toothy smile and eyes with an unmistakably mischievous expression in them.

Harry's was the best though, or so they all thought. It showed a typical ghost, but with droopy eyes as if he was stoned, and a red tongue lolling out of his mouth like a yawning wolf that was woken up far to early.

"These are fucking awesome," Harry exclaimed and for once the girls did not remark on his language, instead they wholeheartedly agreed. Carefully taking the masks in their hands, they turned them around and almost reverently clicked them into place on their helmets.

It took only a few seconds for the masks' internal systems to activate themselves and soon Harry and the girls where testing the functions of their awesome new toys. One of the handiest functions they soon discovered, was that each mask gave them a complete overview of the functioning of their EXO's.

A small mannequin-like figure was displayed in the lower left corner of their vision showing the many parts of their power armor. Each part was green and carried in small black lettering, 100%. Ivan explained that if their armor got somehow damaged or was malfunctioning, it would show in the color turning gradually red and the percentage going down. As long as the percentage stayed above the 50% nothing was amiss, if it dropped below that, they would have to find a mechanic or preferably, go to Boltrock directly.

Furthermore, the mask showed what kind of ammo was currently selected on their MWS's and which configuration was used. Which attachments where connected to the EXO's, and the kind of vision currently activated. The status of the environment they where in was also displayed including, toxicity, radiation, oxygen, and whether or not the atmosphere was livable.

When the were done admiring their new toys Ivan cleared his throat and said, " I believe it is time to discuss our battle plan." As the kids removed their masks again, he pulled a small round disk from a pouch on his belt and placed it on the floor of the Osprey. Pressing a button on the side activated a 3D projector and a scale model of the island appeared.

"So, tell me kids," Ivan said with an unmistakable grin audible in his voice, "since this is _your_ mission, how are we going to do this."

"Uhh," was about as far as they got, not having expected to be required to come up with a battle plan. Silence reigned for a full 3 minutes until Hermione spoke up.

"I think it would be best to begin here," she pointed towards a large bunker on the top of the island. "This position offers great oversight over the island and it is bound to be a command post, if not the main command post."

Using her two index fingers, she pointed at a place above the bunker and pulling them away from each other, she zoomed the map in. She pointed at a cluster of trees halfway up the mountain, on the other side of the top behind the bunker. "I suggest we tell the pilots to put us down here, behind the trees. With a bit of luck, the camouflage of the Osprey's will let us approach undetected.

From there we move up to the top, once there we split up in four teams, Harry will take one team towards the front of the bunkers and abseil into the artillery opening. Fleur and Ginny will each take a team to the sides, looking for any ways out and cutting of their escape. I will take the last team and bust down the main entrance. I will move first and as soon as you hear gunfire, Fleur and Ginny move in as well. Harry will go last, for hopefully we will hold their attention long enough for you to come in undetected and take them from behind."

As she looked up she was met with silence and turning a bit shy she added, "Or we could do something else if you want. I know it isn't much of a plan but I…" She was interrupted by Harry putting a hand on her shoulder and saying,

"That was brilliant Mione,"

"Indeed," came the deadpanned reaction from Ivan, "You just explained a perfect textbook method to take a hostile bunker with minimum losses, I could not have explained it better myself."

"So, all in favor?" Harry asked and when there came no objections, he continued, "Then we do it like this. If, for some reason the targets are not there, we will see where we go once we have taken the bunker."

Everyone agreed, and the rest of the trip was spent in silence, until the voice of the pilot came from a loudspeaker on the wall next to the door to the cockpit. "We are three minutes from target Major, the seas below are clear of activity and our ground forces are reporting to be on schedule."

"Proceed to target location," Ivan replied to the pilot after opening the door, which he was seated closest to. "Try to land between the trees if possible, if not, we'll jump."

"Yes Sir," the pilot replied before Ivan closed the door again. Turning to the kids Ivan said,

"As soon as we are on the ground, I'm putting all of our lives in your hands. Figuratively speaking of course, but I hope you realize that it will be up to you four to make the decisions for our actions. I'm giving you each ten of my soldiers for the duration of this mission, and the remaining will be staying with me, serving as my observers and covering our rear. We're doing the same teams as at Halloween. Harry, you take Lieutenant Saint-Claire, Hermione, you get Captain Frost, Sergeant Holstein goes with Fleur, and Ginny you get Sergeant Taylor."

The kids nodded to their respective, 'escort' and then waited in silence until they would land.

They had to wait for only a minute until the pilot's voice sounded through the loudspeaker again. "Major Rostock, we will not be able to land between those trees. The clearing we could see is covered with dead wood and bushes, which would normally not be a problem, but the weather has taken a bad turn for the worst. It looks like we're about to encounter a typhoon, and one that is coming out of absolutely fucking nowhere. I'm sorry sir, but you're going to have to jump, I can't risk landing with that much loose wood flying around on the ground. If something gets sucked into the props or the engine, it could be disastrous."

Ivan opened the door again and said, "I understand captain, just take us as low as you can and then we'll jump from there. "

"Yes Sir," came the short reply and they could feel the Osprey diving downwards as he said it, until the helicopter came to a gradual stop, staying still in the air. The hatch opened behind them and immediately it became clear why the pilot had said a storm was brewing. Sunrise should have already been on the way, but it was still pitch-black outside. They could hear the wind howling and big raindrops where pouring down. When they risked a peak over the edge, they couldn't see the ground in the dark below them.

"Don't worry about the height kids," Ivan said, correctly guessing their apprehension. "It's only about 25 feet, the EXO's will absorb the impact." As if to prove his point, he opened the door one last time and thanked the pilot before grabbing his rifle from the rack next to his seat and walking to the edge. "See you guys down there." And he jumped out, quickly followed by the others until only Harry and the girls where left.

"Well, I guess this is it then," Harry said with a shrug. He put his mask back on and grabbed his rifle, "It's show time loves." The girls nodded once before donning their own masks and grabbing their rifles. As one they jumped out of the hatch and for a scant two seconds they had a sense of weightlessness before their mechanically enhanced knees absorbed the impact.

"Welcome back to terra firma," the unmistakable voice of Ivan greeted them, as soon as they had stood up again. It came from the speakers in their helmets, as no human voice could be heard over the howling of the quickly swelling storm. "It's your show from here on, so lead the way." He took a few steps back, along with his personal squad and was very much planning on staying out of everything.

But as usual, things never go according to plan.

Suddenly rifle fire came from the darkness all around them and Ivan yelled, "AMBUSH."

He hadn't needed to bother though, as while the girls were initially surprised and shocked, Harry sprung into action as soon as the first shot was heard. "SPREAD OUT, STAY LOW AND RETURN FIRE."

As he was yelling orders, Harry himself was sprinting towards the trees, trying to ignore the disturbing sounds the bullets made as they ricocheted off of his armor. As soon as he reached the tree line, he dove in, rifle at the ready. As he landed on his side, he took aim at the first camouflage-covered marine he could see in the heavy rain and pulled the trigger.

A series of red blotched appeared on the marine's helmet and side and he looked up in surprise. Before he could say a word though, Harry had already moved on and shot the next three in line. As he came to a stop, the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he could feel bullets impacting his back armor. Turning around, Harry saw that the marines on the other side of where he had entered the trees where firing at him.

Pulling a grenade from the holster on his belt, he pulled the pin and threw it towards the cluster of soldiers. Unlike a normal grenade, these didn't explode after a set duration, but when the user gave the command. So, when the grenade was between them, Harry broke the pin he still held, and the red paint-bomb exploded, covering the soldiers in its contents.

"Just so you know," Harry said nonchalantly, "the paint means you're dead." A little grumbling was the only reply he got as several of the marines where spitting out paint or blowing it out of their noses. Luckily for the marines, safety goggles that fully enclosed the eyes had been handed out as mandatory to prevent any unintentional eye-damage from the water-based paint.

Turning around, Harry walked back to the clearing, where the others had managed to 'neutralize' the other marines that had lain in ambush. The girls came walking from different parts of the tree line, as they had all three followed Harry's example and sprinted into the trees while the Black Angels provided covering fire.

As soon as everyone was gathered Harry said, "Major, can I have the map please." Ivan grinned softly before removing the disk from his belt and throwing it to Harry who grabbed it from the air. Holding the map in his hands Harry looked up at the ring of skeletal masks. "Sergeant Holstein, please have your squad secure the perimeter while we have a look at where we are."

Holstein saluted and quickly walked away spreading his men and women out over the clearing and into the surrounding trees. Once they were gone, Harry turned to the disk in his hands and pressed the button to make the map appear. It showed them to be approximately 1500 feet down the mountain tip where the bunker was.

"Okay, here is how we are going to continue," Harry explained, "we follow Hermione's plan. Fleur and Ginny, you two take your squads and flank the bunker. Hermione and I will go straight up and over the hilltop to approach them from behind. Hermione's squad will stay behind the bunker while I take my squad and cross over it. Once we are in position, Hermione will draw their attention with an assault to their rear entrance. As they are distracted my squad will abseil down the front entrance and take them from behind. Any questions?"

No one spoke up until Ginny said, "What if Fleur and I come under attack from reinforcements, are we to only drive them off or should we let them in and neutralize them."

"Good question Gin," Harry replied. "I think the best would be to surround them and neutralize them. If we can manage to get control over both generals, without the word getting out, we can try to give orders in their names, which will work to our benefit."

"That is not a bad idea," Fleur added, "but let's not get our hopes up for that. Let's just focus on taking that bunker and then we'll see from there."

"Agreed," Harry said before looking down the circle, "Let's get to it then." They all nodded, and Harry put the map away before grabbing his rifle and leading the others in a quick march up the hill.

After five-hundred feet he raised his fist and motioned for everyone to lower themselves to the ground. "Stay here," he spoke softly over the comm-link he shared with the platoon. "Mione, Fleur, Gin," come with me and stay low."

The three girls crept forward and once they reached him he said, "There is something or someone ahead of us. Mione, Gin, you go left. Fleur and I will go right. Try to sneak up on whateve…" he was interrupted by a series of flashes and explosions just beyond the trees ahead of them.

"It's artillery," Hermione said, quite unnecessarily as it was pretty obvious what had just started shooting. As they crept further forward it soon came into view. A battery of six M198 howitzers where deployed under extensive camouflage netting.

" _Word just came in_ ," Ivan's voice came over the comm, " _they have started the beach landings, that's why they have opened fire, they're shooting at our troops moving in on the beach defenses."_

"Then let's take them out," Harry growled softly. "Everyone listen up. Sergeant Holstein and Sergeant Taylor, take your squads to the left and spread out in the trees before them. Captain Frost and Lieutenant Saint-Claire, you go to the right and do the same at their backs. "Major Rostock, you and your squad stay at our position and wait for my signal. The girls and I will sneak to the other side of the battery. Once we're all in place I'll give the signal and we move in. be quick, be silent, and above all, don't let them get the word out that we're here."

He received acknowledgement from all five officers and as soon as Ivan had reached them, the quartet moved off to the right and snuck through the cover of the trees to the other side of the howitzers.

" _We're all in position Harry,"_ Ivan said as the kids had nearly reached the other side. "We're only waiting for your signal."

"Stay put, major," Harry replied, "the girls and I are nearly in position." After a moment of thinking he added, "Everyone, take out the markers and prepare to get close, but remember stay silent. Only shoot when you are discovered."

" _Yes sir,"_ came the reply and as they reached their destination, Harry and the girls took out the thick red markers they had been given instead of knives.

Readying themselves, Harry and the girls crept to the edge of the foliage that covered them. Looking out over the large clearing, they could see several large stadium lights illuminating the mass of activity of men firing the cannons, loading them, carrying shells or otherwise occupied with various activities.

"All right, let's do this," Harry whispered as he and the other crept out of their cover. Utilizing the shadows, they snuck up on the first crew members. As he stood behind what he thought to be a gunner, Harry carefully reached up and with a lighting reflex, clamped his left hand over the man's mouth while drawing the marker over his throat, 'killing' him. At the same time, all over the clearing the Black Angels did the same and within a matter of seconds really, the entire clearing was silent.

Grumbling softly, the Americans gathered themselves in a group on the far side of the clearing while the quartet and the Black Angels moved on towards the bunker, moving slower and more careful this time. About a hundred feet from the top, Fleur and Ginny split off to either side, followed by their squads, while the others proceeded to the top.

Once there, Ivan and his soldiers stayed behind on over watch, while Harry and Hermione led the others down the top and towards the bunker. From where they stood, the view could only be described as awe-inspiring.

The sky ahead of them, over the ocean and the beaches, was being illuminated by lightning strikes and it was lucky the black Osprey's and Apache's were warded against lighting strikes. What little they could see of the beaches was a full-on battlefield. BMR-3's and Mammoths were moving on from the waterline, engaging groups of M1A1 Abrams tanks and LAV-25's and Humvee's.

The island beneath them was a maze of bomb-craters, fallen trees and the utterly obliterated remains of bunkers. This 'doomsday landscape' was made even more foreboding by the lightning strikes illuminating and occasionally hitting it. Turning on the night-vision of their masks, they could see that during the past night, the USMC had turned every ruined bunker into a fortified position with machinegun nests, mortar emplacements and several more batteries of howitzers spread out over the island.

Their target bunker was, contrary to their expectations from seeing the rest of the island, in remarkably good shape taking into account the previous evenings bombardment. Several large dents pockmarked the bunker, some had even penetrated the concrete walls or ceiling, but structurally speaking, the bunker was intact.

Harry turned to Hermione and grasped her right hand. pulling her towards him, he pressed his helmeted head against hers and said softly, "Good luck my love, I'll see you down there."

"You to Harry, try to be careful."

"I will," and with that he dropped her hand and stroked the side of her helmet, wishing there was not an inch of titanium between his hand and her hair. Briskly he dropped his hand and grabbing his rifle in both hands, he turned towards the bunker and hurried off down the hilltop, his squad hot on his heels.

He led the squad down the hill and being careful to stay out of sight of the sentries stationed at the back entrance, they climbed up the bunker. They were careful to avoid the holes the Rail-cannons had struck, as if someone happened to look up through them, they would see them walking over the bunker.

When they approached the edge, Harry turned to Lt Saint-Claire and said, "Wait here, I'll go see what we're dealing with." She nodded curtly, and Harry handed her his rifle before carefully aiming his left arm at the edge of the bunker. He fired the grappling dart into the concrete and once he was sure it would hold, he carefully lowered himself over the side and searched for the opening.

Looking around he found it about two dozen feet to his left. He turned back up and once he had regained his footing and felt secure, he withdrew the dart onto his left arm. "It's that way," he told the others and pointed towards the area above where he had seen the opening.

Once they were above the opening, they all shot their grappling darts into the concrete and prepared to lower themselves. Thinking of Hermione, Harry said, "Mione, we're in position, you can begin."

Hermione followed Harry with her eyes as he led his squad away and after a few seconds, she shook her head and motioned for her squad to follow her. She led them towards the entrance of the bunker complex and they halted just out of sight of the sentries.

Activating the infrared function of her mask, Hermione scanned the area and it was good that she did, as she found two small groups of each 3 marines hidden in the trees around the entrance. Pointing them out to Captain Frost, he quickly dispatched his soldiers in two groups and the six marines were taken out without a sound.

Now that the area was clear, Hermione re-positioned her squad to form a half moon shape around the opening and they waited for Harry's signal, which came a few minutes later. " _Mione, we're in position, you can begin_."

"Okay let's go, on my mark." Turning to her rifle, she put it on triple burst mode and stood up from the bush she was hiding in. Taking aim at the four sentries posted at the entrance, she opened fire.

The first two went 'down', immediately while the other two ducked down and crept back into the bunker, yelling for assistance while they shot blindly into the bushes, as gunfire was coming from all-around them now.

Fleur heard the gunfire starting as she waited around the side-entrance she and her squad had found. Mere minutes after the firing started, Fleur could hear reinforcements approaching them from the forest below them.

She had already deployed most of her squad in a wide ambush to intercept them, leaving only three Black Angels to guard the door to the bunker. A group of maybe 50 marines came running up the hill and upon Fleur's order, all Black Angels put their MWS' on full auto before waiting for the order to fire.

As soon as the group was within their ambush, Fleur ordered, "Open fire," and all did so, mowing down the marines with almost childish ease as they themselves were near invisible in the heavy rains and gloomy darkness between the trees.

Ginny was hiding with her squad between the trees underneath the walls of the bunker, directly opposite a large hole in the reinforced concrete. When the firing started, she could see marine personnel running around within the bunker and a few minutes later, half a platoon on marines tried to use the hole to outflank Hermione's squad at the entrance. They never arrived.

As soon as she saw the first marines leaving the hole, Ginny gave the order to open fire and the hole was covered in red paint, as the automatic rifle fire fully painted the first half dozen that had managed to come out. The others were suppressed within the bunker by the continuous firing.

As Harry could hear the rifle fire begin from Hermione's direction he couldn't help but be a bit worried. Mere minutes later gunfire came from both Fleur's and Ginny's directions and he knew it was time to move. Nodding to Lt Saint-Claire, he led the descent towards the opening and they were glad to find the opening and the adjacent chamber to be empty.

Landing softly on the concrete floor, they all retracted their grappling darts and readied their rifles to enter the bunker complex. When he saw they were all ready, Harry led the others into the complex and into the direction of the gunfire.

General Patrick O'Hara had been unable to sleep this past night. The news that the Navy had been put out of the fight in a matter of mere hours had sent a shockwave throughout his forces, and he could not deny that morale had taken a rather severe blow.

Currently he was sitting in a small room in the main command post, thinking of the best strategy to keep the U.N.S.F. contained on the beaches, as they were gaining ground at a prodigious speed. They had landed a mere ten minutes ago, but already they had secured the beaches and their tanks were rolling towards him as he sat there.

To make matters worse, one of the artillery batteries nearby had gone silent and communications had been cut off, so he had no idea whether there had been an accident, if the weather was interfering with their communications, or if they had been taken out of the fight by some advanced units.

Before he could give much more thought to it though, sudden gunfire could be heard nearby. Seconds later a marine came running through the hallway next to his office screaming, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK, HOSTILES AT THE MAIN ENTRANCE."

Jumping up from the cot he was sitting at, O'Hara ran out of the room, stopping only to grab his M16 from where it stood next to the door.

Running towards the entrance, he was soon joined by others, all armed and running towards the entrance. The sounds of gunfire became louder the closer they got to the entrance and once there, O'Hara saw that a fair number of his guards where already sporting an impressive amount of red splotches on their uniforms and helmets.

"We're not doing any damage sir", one of his captains said, a little panic clearly audible in his voice.

"What color paint have we been given sir?" A major asked with a little confusion in his vice, "The only color I can see is red."

Taking a short pause and walking closer to the major, being unable to make himself audible over the sound of a .50 being made ready to fire next to him, he replied, "I have been told ours is blue, but I haven't seen any blue paint yet."

Looking over at the .50, O'Hara said, "Let's find out." The marine who had been readying the .50 was done and about to open fire at the bushes visible through the opening.

"Wait up corporal," when said marine looked up- toward his supreme commander, O'Hara continued, "Shoot a few rounds into the wall next to opening first, we want to see what color our paint rounds are, since we can't see any color besides the red used by our 'enemies'."

"Yes sir," the man replied and after sliding the first round into his heavy machinegun, he aimed the barrel at the wall. Pushing down his thumbs on the V-shaped trigger, he sent a burst of rounds towards the concrete, and to everyone's shock and surprise, a dozen 4-inch-wide holes appeared in the wall.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" the marine who had shot yelled in surprise. "Those are definitely not paint rounds sir!"

"No kidding," O'Hara replied dryly, though he was no less shocked than all the others. Raising his M16 to his shoulder, he fired a three-round burst at the wall on the other side of the opening, and three smaller holes appeared.

"Fuck me," O'Hara muttered more to himself than to the others. "Why would they give us live rounds, and tell us they're paint rounds?"

"That's very simple General," a new voice from behind them suddenly spoke up, "We wanted to test our new body armor." The words were followed by the very distinct sound of nearly a dozen rifles being fired on full auto.

Before O'Hara could turn around, every marine in the room with him was covered in red paint and he was left the only one 'alive'.

Harry stepped forward from the opening and walked towards General O'Hara. Holding his rifle in his right hand, he aimed it loosely on the general's chest and said, "Do you surrender general?"

As he was saying this, Hermione led her squad into the bunker through the entrance and he gave her a tight hug while he could almost hear O'Hara gnash his teeth in frustration at having been beaten so easily.

Harry allowed the General a few minutes to come to terms with his defeat, during which time Fleur and Ginny also joined them, both hugging both him and the other two girls in their relief to see them all unharmed.

"Fine," O'Hara finally growled out and he threw his M16 on the ground before Harry's feet, followed by his pistol. "And now what?" he added a bit arrogantly.

"And now," Harry began with a sinister tone in his voice, "you are going to tell us where we can find General Alexander Jackson."

"In your dreams Ghost face." he let his eyes pass over Harry, Hermione, Fleur and Ginny before adding. "What are you supposed to be? A stoned ghost, a creepy old lady, a jester and a Barbie, is this the joke squad or something?"

"No general," Fleur added with a, to her husband and wives at least, very cute growl, "It means that we do not stand under the U.N.S.F. banner, or under their restrictions. And trust me when I say, we have ways to make you talk, so you'd better start talking before we make it… physical." That last word was growled out and for the first time Ivan, who had snuck into the bunker after Hermione, heard the Fenrir in their human voice.

O'Hara must have heard the same as he paled significantly and swallowed once before saying, "Okay, okay, slow down. No need to get worked up. General Jackson is in his bunker, halfway down this mountain, but I heard just before you arrived that your forces were closing in on them very fast. So, it is possible that he has already been taken captive by your colleagues."

"Great," Harry muttered softly before turning around and walking away a few paces. Focusing on Dan he said, "Colonel Granger please respond."

A few seconds later he got a reply. " _Go ahead Harry, I'm listening_."

"Dan, we have taken General O'Hara alive, but he says that General Jackson is in a command post halfway down the mountain. Do you know if our forces have already made it to that command post and taken him?"

" _Well first of all, congratulations on taking O'Hara, and to answer your second question, Jackson got in a spot of bad luck. His bunker took a 180mm grenade in the room he was in, and since he's sitting right across from me, I can tell you he looks remarkably much like an overripe tomato."_

"A crap, that's a bummer. Mom said they would teach us how to handle a sword if we would bring them both Generals."

" _Hmm, well that is unfortunate indeed. However, I might have a solution. Our forces have broken through the beach defenses in less than half-an-hour. We took about an hour mopping them up and now we're closing in on the last line of defense. It's now… 9:56 so we did pretty good if I might say so myself._

 _Point being, there is a last line of defenders left between your position and ours. I can delay our forces for maybe fifteen minutes with hunting down the marines that are still on the loose. If you guys can get your assess down from that hilltop and take that last line of defense, I'm sure the Ladies will be impressed with you."_

"Thanks a lot Dan," Harry replied with relieve. "We'll get onto it at once and see you when it's over."

" _All right Harry, good luck and I'll see you all in an hour or so."_

Harry closed the connection and turned back around to the others. "General Jackson has been 'killed in action', the bunker took a 180mm in his room."

"Damn," the girls said almost simultaneously.

"Yea," Harry said, knowing exactly how they felt. "but Colonel Granger got us a tip on something else we can do. There's only one line of defense left, and he suggested we try to neutralize that before he and the rest of our forces get there."

"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Ginny said before turning to Sergeant Taylor she added, "Sergeant, please assign one of your soldiers to watch the General while the rest of us focus on that last line of defense."

"Yes Ma'am," Taylor replied before doing as she had said and having one of her men take General O'Hara in custody. Once that was taken care of, Harry took over again.

"Okay, now let's get going down this hill and make sure we get to those last defenders before the others do."

"Yes Sir," the others all replied, and Ivan motioned for him to lead ahead, which he promptly did with Hermione, Fleur and Ginny besides him. As they hurried down the hill, they stumbled upon a group of Humvees' parked between the trees.

Hermione turned to the others and they could hear the excitement in her voice. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Hell yea," came the unanimous reply. Next Hermione turned to the giant walking behind her and began in a cute imitation of a begging little girl,

"Uncle Ivan…."

A few minutes later four Humvee's came barreling down the hilltop on full speed and more-or-less crash-landed in the clearing where the final American resistance was concentrated.

At once, every single gun in the clearing was pointed at the four vehicles and they all opened fire upon them, making them ignore pretty much everything else. Including the fifty Black Angels sneaking up on them from the direction the four Humvee's just came from.

After every marine had finished emptying his or her gun on the cars, Ivan pumped the shotgun mounted underneath his M.W.S. and said a little louder than normal, "And now please drop your guns or else…"

He did not need to finish his threat as most of the marines dropped their weapons. The ones who did not were immediately shot. Once the clearing was 'pacified', Ivan left his more than capable soldiers with disarming the marines, while he moved over to the wrecked Humvee's.

He knocked on the roof of the first car before opening the door and asking with a grin, "Everything okay in there Fleur?"

A somewhat groggy Fleur crawled out of the wreck and once she was out she immediately removed her mask and rubbed her eyes before groaning, "That was the worst ride of my life." Meanwhile Ivan had moved on to the others and now Hermione, Ginny and Harry where each crawling out of the other wrecks.

"Great idea Mione," Ginny groaned, "Let's cause a distraction she said,"

"Yea," Harry muttered, "let us drive she said,"

"O shut up," Hermione snarled while softly touching the egg-shaped bump that was slowly forming on her forehead. "It worked didn't it, so shut your whining."

Eventually the quartet sat down against one of the Humvee's to wait for Dan to arrive with their advanced units from the beaches. Above them the sky quickly began to clear up and they thought they could hear a soft echo of the cry of an immense bird. A small smile slowly spread over their faces as they knew it was Luna saying goodbye before returning to the _Merlin._

Surprisingly enough, Dan wasn't the first to arrive. A few minutes after they had sat down, a black Osprey could be seen coming from the direction of the MPACS. It landed in the clearing and to their surprise, it was Aurora, Gabrielle and Luna who stepped out of it.

Luna wore a big smile under her black beret, though her eyes were tired, and her shoulders slumped a little. "Hey guys, how did you do?"

Harry was the first to reach them and he grabbed Luna in a tight hug before saying softly. "You were amazing sis, I've never seen such a big storm before."

"Thanks Harry," Luna said pressing her head against his chest plate.

Once he had released his sister, Harry turned to his moms and saw them smiling as well. "We saw what you guys did Harry," turning to the three girls Gabrielle motioned for them to join them and once they did, she and Aurora held all five in a group hug.

"We are so proud of you, of all five of you." Aurora smiled down on them. "You guys have done more than we could have asked of you and you have more than earned your reward."

"Thanks mom," they all said as one and they continued the hug until Dan drove into the clearing with greatly overwhelming, but wholly unnecessary force. A line of Mammoth's drove down the trees, while being followed by a second line of BMR-3's and finally a few hundred Legionnaires on foot.

"Oh, party's over I guess." Dan said with a wink towards the kids. Looking out over the clearing he saw the crashed cars and asked, "So who wrecked the Humvee's?"

"Ehh, that would have been us dad." Hermione said with a heavy blush on her cheeks, which was mirrored by the other three. "Turns out that driving a Humvee is a lot harder than driving an ATV. "

"Yea about that," Aurora interrupted with a small cough, "I'll be taking the $880,000 dollar to replace them from your allowance for next year."

"WHAT," all four exclaimed as one.

"But, but, but, our allowance is only…" Harry had to think for a few seconds before he realized something. "Ehh mom how much is our allowance actually?"

All three adults burst out laughing at that until Gabrielle calmed down enough to reply. "Ha… Ha… Harry we were just messing with you. HAHAHA. You guys have a Gringotts Gold Card, that thing doesn't even have a limit."

"Why do I feel like I'm being made fun of for being rich?" Harry asked softly to the girls. They all nodded, and Fleur replied,

"I know what you mean. I kinda' feel spoiled now."

"Are we supposed to be feeling bad for having nice things?" Hermione asked softly.

"Well, as long as I can remember," Ginny said hesitantly, "my family has not been exactly well off. But I can't say I really minded it, we may not have had much, but we always had enough, and we had each other. It wasn't until I met you guys, and saw Potter Manor for the first time that I realized how little we had. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, maybe we should appreciate the things we have a bit more and be less obvious about it."

"Yea probably," Hermione softly replied while the other two nodded.

"I guess we still have a lot to learn about the world." Harry said softly.

"And we'll be there to help you learn." Gabrielle said proudly while putting a hand on his shoulder." Aurora and I, and all of your parents, we'll be there to help you learn. But for now, let's get back to Hawaii, you guys have earned your vacation."

"Yea, let's do that." Ginny said with a smile, eager to get back to the rest of her family. "Let's go enjoy our holiday."

Author's note:

And there you have it. This is officially the longest chapter I have ever written. I hope you all enjoyed it, please let me know if you did.

I know that some of you may think the fight against the U.S. Pacific Fleet and the U.S.M.C. was a bit one-sided, and you'll be totally correct. The whole point of this entire exercise was for Aurora and Gabrielle to show off how powerful the Legion really is and to establish themselves as true players on the field of international politics. Because despite Aurora's name, until now, only a handful of the muggle world leaders took them for the powerhouse that they are.

If there are many demands for it, maybe I'll write a flash-back from Dan's point of view on the landings, but you'll just have to let me know if you want that.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and till next time.

Medieval Maniak


	35. Chapter 35

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 34

Once the group returned to the MPACS, they gathered their stuff and boarded an Osprey which returned them to Hawaii, the rest of the Legion would gather their gear from the island and then return straight back to Avalon, a trip that would normally take more than 6 weeks, but with the Portkey function Boltrock had invented, it would only take them four days, as once per day they could make a 'jump'. Anderson himself and the rest of high command returned to Avalon immediately, by means of a chartered private jet.

The rest of their vacation went by in what felt like no-time. Upon their return, Aurora gathered the entire group, and told them, especially the Weasley brothers; "What myself, my wife, Arthur and the kids, have done these last few days, is a secret. You are not to ask any of us about it, and if I hear that a single word about our absence or about what you think we have done gets leaked to anyone else and have no illusions that I won't hear about it, you will be very, very sorry that you did.

I don't want to threaten you, and I don't want to scare you, but you have to realize something." She now looked very sternly at all 6 Weasley brother, "What your father, my wife, and I myself are a part of is nothing less than top secret. You tell anything, to anyone, and you will turn your father, your mother, your sister and even yourselves into targets for some very bad people. Don't make targets out of your family, trust me when I say, you'll never forgive yourself if they get harmed because of you."

This was enough to scare the crap out of the youngest four, and Aurora was confident that they would do as she had said. Bill and Charlie though, the look on their faces told them they thought differently, and she was soon proven right.

Three days after their return, when Aurora and Gabrielle lay sunning on the beach with Apolline, Molly, Gabby, Joanna, and Luna, the two eldest Weasley brothers came walking towards them with Arthur on their heels. "Can we have a word with the two of you?" Charlie asked.

"In private." Bill added softly.

Lifting her sunglasses, Gabrielle looked up at the two redheads and their uncomfortable looking father. "Yea sure," she muttered before stretching and poking her partner in the ribs. "Get up love."

"Huhwha?" Aurora muttered when she was woken up.

"Get up sleepy, I think we're going to have an interesting conversation."

When Aurora looked up over her sunglasses and saw the two Weasley brothers, she was suddenly wide awake upon seeing their looks. "I think so too love. Let's get to it then." She stood up and after stretching herself, she picked up the beach towel she had lain upon and wrapped it around her, covering the red string bikini she was wearing. After Gabrielle had done the same, they led the three Weasleys up into the house and towards the small study on the top floor.

Once there the ladies took a seat on one of the two sofas while Bill and Charlie sat down in the one opposite it. Arthur pulled a chair from before the desk and sat down in it between the two sofas, still with a decidedly uncomfortable look on his face.

"Well here we," Aurora said after a while of silence. "What did you want to talk about?"

"We want to help." Bill replied. "Charlie and I, we know who you are, and we know what you are doing and planning to do, and we want to help you, but there is something else first. Dad has been telling us stories, stories of rumors that were circulating during the war, about the Legion and about what you have done, and we would like to hear the truth about it."

Sitting a little straighter up, Aurora motioned for Bill to continue and said, "Fire away. I promise you that we will not lie to you, but there are things we cannot tell you and we'll say so when it is the case."

"That's agreeable," Bill said, and Charlie nodded in agreement. After that Bill started the questions.

"Did you kill the giants in Britain?"

"Yes," Gabrielle calmly replied. "We tracked down their bases of operations and gave them an ultimatum, surrender and be relocated to the preserve on the mainland, or be hunted down and wiped out down to the last one. They chose to fight us."

Swallowing once for the brutally honest way on which she replied, Bill continued his questions. "Have you ever killed people in cold blood, people who were defenseless?"

"Yes, more than you would care to count, but only if we were certain they were guilty." Aurora replied.

"Why," was all Charlie could ask in his shock.

Taking a breath Aurora replied, "Sometimes you don't have a choice, sometimes people leave you no choice but to do things you hate. Unfortunately, we are often the ones who end up having to make those choices."

Charlie nodded once before he asked the next question. "Why did you kill the Death Eaters instead of trying to capture them like the ministry did?"

"Because we are not stupid. Back then the ministry was, and frankly still is, as corrupt as could be. This one time, during the first few weeks after us joining in the fight, we took ten Death Eaters captive. We handed them over to the ministry, as they asked us to do so, and we had no prison to keep them in. Just 3 days later, nine of them were killed in action when Death Eaters attacked a muggle orphanage and we were the first to respond.

When we went to the ministry for an explanation, we were told that the ten we captured had been released for they were, 'high standing members of society' and we had obviously made a mistake when we captured them. Let's just say the Wizengamot was not pleased with me when one of her majesty's Dark Angels tossed nine severed heads into their midst and told them that those belonged to nine Death Eaters that had been killed while they attacked a muggle orphanage.

In the end we found out what really happened. The Death Eaters bought themselves free, or where bought free if they didn't have the funds themselves. After we heard that, we gave new orders to our forces. Shoot to kill, and should we take prisoners, question them and then kill them. If they won't fight fairly, then neither shall we. They see our soldiers as lesser beings for not having magic, so they try to kill them on sight. We are merely returning the favor to them."

Nodding in understanding Bill said, "I think I get it, but I have another question. Last Christmas, you called Gringotts for help when you needed ward breakers, why don't you have magicals in your own ranks, wouldn't it make much more sense to have a mixed muggle/magical unit?"

Both ladies smiled grimly at that and Gabrielle responded, "We have tried that Bill, but very few wizards are willing and capable to do the things we ask of them, and the ones that are capable of doing it, have for the most part already joined Voldemort. It takes a certain kind of person to be able to kill in cold blood. Killing someone with a bullet, is far easier and far less corrupting than killing someone with magic.

With most magic you have to really want to harm the person you're casting the spell at, you have to want them to die and enjoy killing them. A bullet doesn't take intent, a bullet doesn't judge you for firing it. Also, most 'light' witches and wizards refuse to trade in their wand for a muggle weapon, they see it as demeaning to use something that was made solely for the purpose of killing something. We do have magicals in our ranks, our combat healers are all witches and wizards. But they focus on healing not killing. They are trained as battle-mages, so they know how to fight if they have to, but we try to avoid it."

"Okay, I guess I can understand that, so allow me to ask one last question." Aurora motioned for him to continue and he promptly did so. "How can we help? We know dad is working with your weapons research division, which is not our forte, but there must be something we can do to help?"

Both ladies looked thoughtful at that, and judging by the look on Arthur's face, he was hoping very much that it would not be anything dangerous. After a few minutes of silence, Gabrielle said carefully, "There is something you could help with, but it will not be without risks. Charlie, your line of work does give us an opportunity to solve something. We want to ask you to create a manual for our soldiers to use, a manual about dragons and other dark creatures and their weaknesses. About how best to fight them and how best to kill them."

Charlie nodded hesitantly, not entirely sure about the idea of teaching others how to kill the very creatures he has devoted his life to studying and protecting. "I… I'll have to think about it," he replied after a short hesitation, "I'll talk with Joanna about it and we'll let you know."

"That's fine, take the time you need." Aurora replied before turning to Bill, "In your case Bill, we would like you to accompany your father to work the first day after our return to Britain. I'll arrange with Ragnok to have you transferred to Taskforce X for the foreseeable future."

To the surprise of the two Weasley brothers it was their father who asked the next question, "What's Taskforce X?" Arthur asked confused. Even with his security clearance he had never heard of it.

With a small grin Gabrielle replied, "Do you remember the Titanium mine we discovered last year Arthur?"

He nodded in confirmation and Gabrielle called, "Charles." Seconds later the head elf of Potter Manor appeared.

"You called Mistress?" He asked with a small bow.

"Yes Charles," Gabrielle replied, "Please go to Avalon and tell Anderson I need him to give you the Taskforce X folder. Once you have it come straight back here." Charles bowed again and popped away.

They only had to wait for a few minutes before Charles returned with a thick black folder which he handed to Gabrielle before popping away again back to Potter Manor. When she placed the folder on the table they could all read the words printed in red cursive letters, TASKFORCE X, SEC CLEARANCE A3.

When Aurora opened the folder and showed them the first page, it was completely blank, as were all the other pages. "We can't read this," Arthur stated calmly, my security clearance is level B1, and the boys have none what so ever."

"O right," Aurora replied. "Sorry Charlie but this is not for your eyes, so if you would move back to the others, we will see you again later." Charlie nodded and stood up, by now he was used to the secrecy surrounding his father's job.

When he was gone Aurora spoke again, using her official tone this time, "Arthur Weasley and William Arthur Weasley, I, High Lady Aurora Emrys, commander in chief of the Shadow Legion, am hereby raising your security clearance to level A3." As soon as she said that, both Weasleys felt a twitch in their eyes and suddenly they could read what was written on the first page in the folder.

' _Taskforce X,_

 _Operational Goals; locating and securing the location of the lost Goblin capital of Karzak._

 _Suspected location, Isla Craig,_ _55°15'10.4"N 5°06'59.5"W'_

 _"No frigging way," Arthur and Bill spoke at the same time after they read it._

 _"You think you have actually found the city of Karzak?" Bill asked in complete awe._

 _"We do," Gabrielle replied calmly. "I'm guessing you are aware of the story of its loss?" when Bill nodded she continued, "Over the past few weeks, we have received reports of miners suffering from temporary memory loss at the deepest edges of the mine, entire crews have begun showing signs of confusion and when we mapped the mine, the pattern became very clear." She plucked a small disk from the back of the folder and placed it on the table, pushing the central button, a 3D map of the mine appeared. The tunnels were clearly marked out and indeed, they seemed to avoid crossing into a dome shaped area, maybe 1,800 feet beneath the island._

 _"Your job, Bill, will be to assemble a team of curse breakers, from your colleagues at Gringotts, both human and goblin. You will swear them all to secrecy and only after they have sworn magical oaths, will you inform them of your objective. You are to map and locate all of the wards that protect Karzak. Under no circumstance are you to make any attempt to break through any of the wards, we tried that and the curse breakers we_ _sent_ _got burned to a crisp, literally._

 _You will not inform anyone besides Legion High Command, and_ _Lord_ _Ragnok. You, and only you, will be allowed to breath a word of anything you are doing and only to the ones I previously mentioned. Do you understand?"_

 _Bill nodded mutely, still trying to grasp the magnitude of what they wanted him to do. Speaking softly, he said, "Do you have any idea of the reward the Goblin Council has offered for the one who finds Karzak?"_

 _"We do," Aurora answered, "which is exactly why we want to crack their wards. The only ones who stand a_ _chance_ _at breaking through them, are Gabrielle, myself and a few others. But before we even try it, we need to know what we'll be up against, which is your job, you think you are up to it?" Bill nodded mutely, while his father looked a bit concerned, he did not like what he had heard about the previous group of curse breakers._

 _The Weasleys left at the end of the week, and the Delacours stayed for one week more. Aurora, Gabrielle and the kids stayed at Hawaii for three more weeks. They enjoyed themselves at the beach, and_ _spent_ _long days strolling down the streets of Honolulu. During the closing ceremony for Operation Turkey Shoot, they surprised the crap out of_ _General_ _O'Hara, when they introduced themselves and asked if he wasn't too scared by them when he was captured. Once he realized that he was captured by a couple of children, the general turned bright red in shame and had to endure the teasing of general Jackson for the rest of the night._

Two days before they planned to return to Britain, Charles appeared on the beach where they were lying in the sun. He held a large white envelop in his hands which he handed to Aurora with a small bow. "This was delivered to the muggle mail box Mistress."

Aurora took the envelop with a, "Thank you Charles," and looked at the monogram in the upper left corner. Musing softly to herself she transformed her right index finger and tore open the envelope," Hmm, I wonder what this is about, normally Lucille just calls if there is something with Murinus." Removing the letter from the envelope she read it silently over the edge of her sunglasses.

Starting to frown at the unusually formal style of the letter, she finally called out to the kids who were holding a 'sand-ball fight'. They were using their wands to send balls of wet sand at a series of targets set at 20 paces distant. "Kids, come here for a bit, I got a letter from Lucille about Murinus."

All five immediately ran over and sat down before the chairs of Aurora and Gabrielle before Aurora read the letter out loud.

" _To Her Grace,_

 _Lady Aurora, The Duchess of Wales,_

 _My Lady, it gives us, the Board of Directors of the London Zoo, great pleasure to inform you that we have decided to accept the offer that was brought to us by the director, Lucille Harper, on December the 15_ _th_ _of last year._

 _Your past expenses, expertise and assistance regarding our prized_ Eunectes murinus _, known to you as Murinus, have given us the confidence that you will indeed be able to afford to give him a well-deserved and peaceful life for the time that remains to him._

 _Your offer to find replacements for him has been extensively discussed during our last board meetings, and we have reached the following conclusion; It will be impossible to replace Murinus_ _with an equally impressive specimen of his species. So, we have decided that, upon his transfer to your property, his exhibit will be altered to house a member of the_ CrocodylusPorosus, _or Saltwater Crocodile. If your offer to find a replacement could also include a member of_ Crocodylus Porosus, _we would be very grateful._

 _Unfortunately, we do not_ _posses_ _s the means to transport an animal as large as Murinus, or a_ Crocodylus Porosus _of the size we hope to replace him with. We were hoping that, with your extensive experience with large reptiles, you would know where we might rent or acquire such equipment. Our preference would be a male example in the age of 50 to 60, with a length of preferably in excess of 15 foot._

 _We hope to have sufficiently informed you with this letter and we are anxious to hear your reply._

 _With the greatest respect,_

 _Andrew Wiggins,_ _Chairman_ _of the Board of Directors."_

"Damn what a long-winded fellow," Gabrielle sighed as her wife finished reading. "He could have just said that they accepted our offer and would ask us to find a Saltwater Crocodile to replace him with."

In the meantime, the kids where focused on several other things and when Gabrielle was finished they all spoke as one,

"Why would you want to have a giant green anaconda?" Luna asked.

"Why did he address you as Duchess mom? You never said anything about being muggle nobility." Harry said a bit accusatory.

"Where the hell would you find a saltwater crocodile of 15 foot, those beasts are supposed to be rare." Hermione asked.

"Why would that man assume that you know how to find a saltwater crocodile?" Fleur asked.

"Does this mean that Murinus is going to live at the Manor with us, please tell me I won't wake up one day to find him next to our bed." Ginny said a bit apprehensively, despite having met Murinus and liking him well enough, she did not want a snake of that size to wander free through the manor, which she suspected would be perfectly fine with everyone else.

"One at a time please kids," Aurora said, not succeeding in completely suppressing a grin. "But to answer your questions; first Luna, Murinus is an old friend of your brother and Hermione and he is slowly wasting away where he is now.

Secondly, pay better attention to your lessons in family history Harry, I have mentioned it at least three times so far. It is the muggle version of my magical title of High Lady of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys.

Thirdly, that's rather easy Hermione, saltwater crocodiles, and especially the largest ones, are known to terrorize coastal villages around Indonesia, Borneo and north-west Australia, so all we have to do is visit a few of those villages, ask some questions and follow the rumors. I'll bet you a weeks' worth of doing the dishes that the villagers will even thank us for removing the crocodile for them.

Fourthly, Fleur, I might have mentioned to Lucille that I have a doctorate in reptilian biology and have extensive experience in handling the largest reptiles on earth. Considering I myself and my wife are amongst said largest reptiles, that's not an exaggeration. Besides, all reptiles speak Parseltongue, so we can just talk with them.

And lastly Ginny, no you do not have to fear for that. What we have not told Lucille, Gary the caretaker, the board of directors, or any of you guys, is that Murinus is not in fact a green anaconda." This caused confusion all around as they all believed that Murinus was just that.

"Murinus is in fact the last known member of the species, _Titanoboa_ _cerrejonensis_. His egg was found as a fossil by muggle archeologists and thought to be a dinosaur egg. It was stolen on the way to a museum and eventually made its way into the hands of a rather notorious wizard. Said wizard, a certain Bertram the Beastly, managed to somehow reverse the egg from a fossil back to a fertilized egg.

As Bertram was trying to hatch the egg, he did some unconventional, unlawful, and rather unethical experimenting. Said experiments eventually brought him into the attention of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They did a raid on his hideout and found the egg. Apparently some numnut failed to detect the magic in the egg and thought it a non-magical animal, so it was delivered to the London Zoo where they hatched it and where he has lived ever since.

The lack of magical contact had kept his size reasonably in check, until Harry and Hermione showed up before his tank. Apparently one of the results of Bertram's experiments is that Murinus is partly depended on magical energy to grow to his full potential, and these two gave him plenty during their many visits to him.

Once Gabrielle and I met him and did a little research on him, we uncovered the whole story and grew interested. That was the reason why I paid for his new terrarium, and why I was not hesitant to let Harry and Hermione, and to a lesser amount Fleur, to interact with him. Their magic was feeding him, keeping him healthy and why he was so depressed when they stopped coming. It was as if he suddenly lacked an important part of his diet and his body slowed down his growth and activity in lack of it.

Murinus is not magical in the sense that he has magic, but he has a special relation with it that grants him an extremely extended lifespan. With his current age, size, and health, I estimate him to be roughly about a young adult, which means that he could easily live for another 150 to 200 years. His size though is a bit of a mystery, since there are no known fossils found that show the full maximum size of a Titanoboa.

The only things that have been found are a few loose teeth, eggs, and a few shards of a skull. He could reach the same size as Melody for all we know, which is also why you don't need to worry Ginny. We plan to introduce Murinus to Melody and we think that they could help the other with their loneliness. Maybe they will even take a romantic interest to each other."

To the amusement of the others, Ginny's eyes widened at that and she obviously did not want to think about what could happen if those two fell in love. She came from a Gryffindor family after all, her entire life she was told by her brothers never to trust a snake/Slytherin, so her reaction was somewhat expectable.

"So, when are we going croc-hunting?" Harry asked, the excitement clear in his voice.

" _We_ are not going to hunt anything," Gabrielle replied calmly. When the kids looked at her with disappointment she explained further. "Do you have any idea of the paperwork that is required for such an operation. Not to mention all the hassle in tracking, catching and then transporting an animal of that size and strength."

"Yea," Aurora added after her wife. "Luckily, I know a chap, former S.A.S.R, Australian Special Forces. After his time in the army he started a business with some of his colleagues in no-kill capture and relocation of dangerous animals. I'll give him a ring and see if he still wants to repay that debt he owes me from that time I saved his skin in the jungles of Vietnam."

Turning words into action she called, "Charles," when the little elf arrived she smiled at him and asked, "Would you do me a favor, go to my office at the Manor, on my desk are three books, bring me the red one and then also the wireless phone from the house here." Charles bowed once before disappearing and reappearing barely a minute later with the requested items.

Thanking Charles, she accepted the two items and placed the phone on her lap taking the book, which was a full two inches thick, and leafing through it until she reached a tab labeled, 'Vietnam Dec.1969.' as she went down the long lists of names she explained to the kids, "This is what you could call a magical phonebook. It auto-updates the personal information of every person who writes his or her name into it."

After a few minutes and two pages, she muttered, "Aha, there he is, Michael Dundee. Nicknamed 'Crocodile Dundee', let's see if he's home shall we." She pressed in the number from the book on the phone and placed it against her ear.

After a few seconds it was answered from the other side and a very one-sided phone call took place for the others.

"Hey Mike, it's Aurora here… Yea the one that saved your hide from those three Vietcong patrols who tried to skin it off you… Yea I'm calling to call in that debt you said you owed me.

So, listen up, I have been approached by the London Zoo with the question if I could perhaps 'acquire' a 16+ foot Saltwater Crocodile in exchange for custody of their 33-foot green anaconda. … yea that one… heard about that did you… yea that would be my adopted son and his best friends.

Really? … well that's quite the coincidence… yea if you could arrange that it would be great… how much would that be?... yea that's fine give me the account number and I'll have it wired over to you later today… excellent… see you then Mike… yea you to… okay bye…"

Hanging up the phone she turned to the others and said with a little disbelieving grin, "Okay now even I am starting to believe in fate. Mike said they had a case lying on their desk about a 19-foot male that has been terrorizing two villages on Sumatra. They have already relocated him twice, the second time to a preserve in Australia for crying out loud, and the damn beast just swam back. Mike said they were considering having to put it down before it ate a villager. So, guess where Hercules is going now."

"Hercules, seriously?" Hermione asked with raised eyebrows. "Was that the best you could come up with?"

"Hey, don't look at me," she said evasively, "It's what Mike told me his crew had called him after the bloody thing smashed two zodiacs with which they were chasing him. But anyway, Mike told me it would take him about a week to gather the necessary equipment and a week more to arrange for all the paperwork. So, we need to inform Lucille that they need to make a start with re-decorating Murinus' habitat ASAP."

Calling Charles again she asked, "Charles please get me pen and paper and then get Fredrick to start on packing, we are going back to England before dinner."

Charles nodded and after delivering the requested items he waited while Aurora wrote down a short note. Handing the note to Charles she said, "Give this to Griphook and tell him to transfer £130,000 to this number before nightfall."

"Yes Mistress," was the short reply from Charles before he popped away again.

Turning to the kids Aurora said, "Enjoy the beach while you can kids, cause we're leaving in a few hours. I need to talk to Lucille ASAP and we need to get a bogus habitat set up at a muggle place to satisfy the inspection the Zoo is sure to send over."

"Why can't we just do it at the Manor?" Harry asked, confusion clear in his eyes. "I mean, I know we have the wards, and the Fidelius, but since you two control them, can't you just make a slight adjustment temporarily."

"That….is not such a bad idea actually." Gabrielle said thoughtfully. "We would need to ask Ragnok to send over an expert to see if a temporary adjustment could be made and if we get Nicholas to create one of his solid illusions… this could actually work."

"Yea, but we do need to get Ashrick working on that rune stone soon, otherwise we don't know how Murinus will react to the rather clammy climate in the Chamber."

"Or you could just have someone re-decorate the Chamber." Hermione interjected. "I have looked it up and Basilisks can live perfectly fine in any possible climate. And besides, you two practically own Hogwarts, so you can just ask Sarah to kick Dumbledore out for a few days, that would give a magical construction company, or even a goblin one if you'd prefer, time enough to turn the Chamber into an Amazonian habitat."

"That's not a bad idea Hermione," Aurora mused, "But we would need to check that with Sal though, I mean it's his chamber and he was always rather picky about anyone touching anything in there."

"Wait a bloody second," Ginny exclaimed, "Are you seriously saying that you have a way to talk with a founder of Hogwarts?"

"Ehh yeah," Aurora deadpanned, "we can talk to all four of them whenever we want. All we have to do is kick Albus from his office and open the founders wing he doesn't know he has there."

A deafening silence fell at that remark until Harry said a bit rebelliously, "Seriously mom, we need to have a talk about what else you two haven't been telling us."

"That's enough cheek from you mister," came very unexpectedly from Fleur. When everyone else looked at her with surprise she blushed a bit and said somewhat defensively, "What, where I come from we are taught to have respect for our parents and I know for a fact that papa hasn't told me even ten percent of what he knows about our family history or its secrets."

"Okay…" Luna tried to get things back on track, "Why don't we go pack our things and get ready to go back home. We can figure this out once we are sitting at the kitchen table."

The other agreed to this, some more willingly then others, and within a few hours they were back in Britain after Aurora and Gabrielle flamed them back.

The next week was filled with much arranging by Aurora and Gabrielle while the kids got a course in illusion magic by none other than Nicolas Flamel himself. Next to one of the guest houses on the manor grounds, the one closest to the gates and thus the easiest accessible from the gates, Nicolas created an illusion of a massive jungle habitat contained in a climate-controlled building of light brown bricks.

Exactly a week after their return from Hawaii, a delegation from the London zoo consisting of Lucille, Andrew Wiggins, and Gary the caretaker, arrived at the Manor gates to inspect Murinus' 'new habitat'. A few tweaks had been made to the wards to allow the three muggles unmolested entrance for the duration of their visit.

The inspection went as expected and when the trio left, they were convinced that this would indeed be the best for Murinus and his transport was planned for two days hence. His departure had been made public after Aurora had sent her acceptance of the proposition, and since then the Zoo had been swamped everyday with people who wanted to take a last look at the famous snake.

Aurora had arranged for Mike to send a truck with a specialized live-animal container to transport Murinus and when it arrived at the Zoo, there was a crowd of thousands standing outside the gates.

Aurora, being the sponsor of the whole event, had been invited as the guest of honor and she and the others had arrived two hours earlier. There had been a small panic when the invitation came, as it had mentioned a formal dress-code, and none of the kids had any muggle formal wear.

In a rather hasty fashion they had made a trip to Harrods and picked out something formal for all of them. A custom made dark blue suit for Harry and skirt suits for the girls, red for Hermione, emerald green for Ginny, sky blue for Fleur, and yellow for Luna. Aurora wore a black version and Gabrielle a dark blue one.

Walking in heels was also a challenge, as Ginny and Luna had never worn heels before, and the other two only rarely. Eventually they had just worn trainers until a few minutes before the event when they had switched them for the two-inch heels that went with their outfits.

During the press conference the children were happy to be waiting off-stage with Gabrielle, while Aurora handled the publicity. Ever since they had gone public after Harry's adoption, she had gotten better at dealing with the press. As she was standing there now she was the perfect example of high-born nobility, with perfect posture, elegance and speech. It had been a shock for the kids when they had first seen her in this role, as it was completely opposite to her usual laid-back behavior.

Standing there now, wearing what must be more than half-a-million pounds in jewelry, the pendant alone had been once assessed on three-hundred-thousand pounds, she calmly spoke about her interest in Murinus and his abnormal size and age. Stating her interest as the reason for her offer to give Murinus some peace and quiet.

She also spoke about the expedition currently on the way to capture a replacement and about the news she had received just that morning that they had tracked and captured the saltwater crocodile known as Hercules, and that he would land at Heathrow Airport in three days' time. During the three weeks of quarantine he would spend at a specially built habitat at the airport, his new home would be remodeled to better represent Hercules' original home. An extensive photo documentation had been made of the place where they had found him, and his new home would be built to look like that as much as possible.

After her, both Lucille and Andrew Wiggins gave speeches of their own. Before the press conference was closed. After that was a photo session before Murinus' habitat, and the kids would not be getting out from under this one. Harry and Luna were officially introduced as the respectively '17' and '14' year old adopted son and daughter of Aurora and Gabrielle. Hermione, Fleur and Ginny were introduced as being good friends of Harry and by extension, of Murinus.

This last fact was proven once more when at the end, Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny, put on overalls and boots over their suits, before stepping into the terrarium. They fed Murinus a quartet of hares, which had been pumped full of, and were covered in, a powerful sleeping drug, and kept him calm and content while the drug quickly spread throughout his body. Just before he fell fully asleep, a long series of carts was rolled into the tank and Murinus moved himself upon it.

When the massive serpent was fully asleep, a crew of 20 men moved into the terrarium and with unified strength, they pushed the long train of carts out through a large opening in the back that had been placed there when it was built. Once outside, the carts were hooked up to a tractor which then pulled them to where the truck was waiting. There a larger crew helped to carefully lift Murinus from the carts and into the specially built transport container. The container was then placed on the truck and under loud applause and cheers from the crowds, the truck drove away under police escort.

Upon his arrival at the London HQ of the Legion, the truck drivers and the police were all Legionnaires in disguise, Murinus was released and moved to Potter Manor by means of a portkey. They would to introduce him to Melody at the manor, as there they would have the room to get acquainted and the chamber was not the most romantic place for a date.

Aurora and Gabrielle personally collected Melody from the Chamber, denying the kids' request to see it, and brought her to the manor grounds. As hoped, she took a liking to Murinus, sensing the magic in his blood and the absence of the massive ego that all of her 'children', carried. For the moment, they were very content to laze around the pond on the grounds where the kids normally raced their ATV's and get to know each other better.

After the injuring of two caretakers, at his temporary residence, Aurora had been allowed to see Hercules alone and with no witnesses, which was enforced by Gabrielle personally manning the viewing screen for the security cameras. During a 'heated conversation', which ended with Aurora having nearly choked Hercules, after she removed half a dozen of his teeth while he was munching on her left leg, Hercules was finally persuaded to behave himself.

This encounter was kept silent, though the aftermath was a bit more troubling than expected. For some reason, the mangled left leg refused to heal on its normal accelerated speed. Nothing Gabrielle tried was able to speed up the process, so eventually they were forced to accept that something from Hercules was messing with her healing and she had to wait for it to heal on its natural pace.

Half the medical staff at the hospital on Avalon was set to figure out what it was exactly that was messing things up, but until they found it, Aurora had to rely on an electric wheelchair to get from place to place. Her leg had been placed in a brace for proper alignment and re-growth of the bones, while specially prepared bandages prevented the large open wounds from getting infected. All magical means were completely useless, so only muggle remedies remained. The argument between Aurora and Gabrielle, who had forced her to use the wheelchair, had literally shook the Manor on its foundations while the children had fled outside and used their brooms to get their minds on something else.

It took the medical staff 12 days before they had finally identified what was messing with her. It turned out that Hercules was infected with a very rare and very dangerous magical bacteria, which was completely harmless to non-magical beings. The _Magicae Corrumpebant_ , or magic neutralizer. This bacteria was only dangerous for dragons who were extremely vulnerable to its effects. The bacteria neutralized the dragon's magic, keeping them grounded, preventing them from breathing fire, and eventually slowly killing them as the magic they relied on to survive, was drained from their bodies.

In the end it was Charlie who brought the solution, when they had figured out what it was, they had immediately contacted him to find out how the preserves protected the dragons from the bacteria, and he had brought them the rather expensive antidote that was normally used. Even with his help, it took another week and help from Severus Snape to find an antidote that worked on Aurora.

The whole affair was kept very hush hush, but the entire high command of the Legion, the Queen, the upper ranks of the MSS, and the Family, were shaken to the core. If Voldemort got his hands on this information, then he had a weapon that could effectively kill the Dark Angels if used properly.

During Hercules' public reveal Aurora was once again right as rain, and thanks to her pendant, the bare lower leg under her skirt showed not a sign of the new and rather gruesome looking scar that she had received as a memento from the ordeal.

The two-foot-thick acrylic window had been reinforced by spanning a net a foot in front of it which was hung up on two dozen solid steel pillars which had been rammed into the ground 15 foot deep. The net was 'woven' of quarter-inch-thick steel wire and was covered by a protective layer of Kevlar. After it was finished it had been privately tested at Avalon by spanning it between four Mammoth tanks and having Gabrielle slam her tail into it.

When the truck carrying Hercules arrived at the zoo, a large crowd awaited it and following another series of speeches by Aurora, Lucille, and Wiggins, Mike 'Crocodile' Dundee and his team were introduced who then told the press and other guests about how Hercules was tracked and captured, helped by a video documentary that had been made by a professional film crew.

When Hercules was finally released into his new habitat, he raged around for a while in the water before Aurora gave him her version of a warning by temporarily boiling the liquid around him. After this chastising he climbed on land and took on the role of the moping old gangster. Displaying all of his extensive scars, some having been inflicted by Aurora, he lay in the light of the heat lamps, chewing disinterestedly on the half dozen chickens that had been strewn around the tank.

With that matter taken care of, what little remained of their holiday was spent with preparing for going back to school.

Three days before they would return to Hogwarts, around nine in the morning, the kids got down to the kitchen for breakfast where they found Aurora, Gabrielle, Dan and Emma already seated and being served coffee and tea by the elves. During breakfast they spoke about their expectations of the coming year and what their new classes would be like. Harry, Hermione, Fleur, and Ginny had all chosen Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. They had been forbidden by Aurora and Gabrielle from choosing any more than two electives, which had Hermione almost in tears from desperation, but so far, they had refused to say why, not for lack of trying from the quartet though.

"Mom," Harry tried for the tenth time in a single week, "When are you going to tell us why we couldn't choose more than two electives?"

With a bored sigh Aurora and Gabrielle shared one of their looks until Luna spoke up with a naughty grin on her face. "Because this year the five of us will be getting private lessons from them on advanced combat magics."

"LUNA," both Aurora and Gabrielle yelled over the table as the quartet burst out in excited exclamations.

"What?" Luna said innocently, "You were going to tell the…" her speech broken by her suddenly falling from her chair and starting to convulse in spasms while her eyes turned milky white.

"LUNA," it again echoed through the kitchen but now in panic and worry. Gabrielle had sat next to her and she was first to reach her, taking her into her arms to keep her from hurting herself.

"She's having a vision," Gabrielle said as Luna suddenly went limp in her arms."

"But… but… she is not asleep, Hermione said confused, "Those prophetic dreams only come at night, right?"

"Not necessarily," Aurora replied, "It could be that the addition of our blood has slightly altered her gift.

The vision lasted for only a minute Luna's eyes went back to their normal bright silver color. She shot upright and looked at her mothers in panic, she managed only a few words. "Azkaban… Death Eaters… escaping… chaos."

Mere seconds later, a Patronus in the form of a massive eagle soured into the kitchen and spoke with the voice of Amelia Bones, "Death Eaters are attacking Azkaban, guard forces heavily outnumbered, dementors are scattered, please help."

"OH SHIT," Aurora perfectly expressed the feelings of everyone in the kitchen. This would mean trouble, there were nearly 1,300 Death Eaters locked up in Azkaban, in addition to 42 members of the Inner Circle. If they got out, it would be chaos.

Author's note:

And there you have it, the end of summer and the beginning of third year. I hope you won't hate me for ending with a cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. This is the first of several major happenings I have planned for third year, so stay tuned.

MM


	36. Chapter 36

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 35

 _Mere seconds later, a Patronus in the form of a massive eagle soured into the kitchen and spoke with the voice of Amelia Bones, "Death Eaters are attacking Azkaban, guard forces heavily outnumbered, dementors are scattered, please help."_

" _OH SHIT," Aurora perfectly expressed the feelings of everyone in the kitchen. This would mean trouble, there were nearly 1,300 Death Eaters locked up in Azkaban, in addition to 42 members of the Inner Circle. If they got out, it would be chaos_.

Aurora was the first to recover from the shock and sprang into action, "Dan, get your ass to Avalon ASAP and have them send over the quick response units. Then gather up what forces you can and send them to Azkaban. Tell Anderson to send the Merlin to the prison as well but have it stay under camouflage, only to engage on my orders. We leave for Azkaban directly."

Dan nodded and hurried towards the door when Aurora added, "Dan, have them use the Hellfire rounds. They are to shoot to kill at any inmate or Death Eater they come across outside the cells. Try to save the prison garrison if you can, but if the dementors try to intervene, burn them. Napalm can destroy a dementor so don't hesitate to use it if necessary." Once more he nodded and ran out the door, still dressed in his bathrobe.

Before they left the kitchen to put on their armor, Aurora turned around at the kids and ordered, "Stay at the manor until we return, don't use the floo and don't leave." Before the kids had a chance to respond, they were both gone.

A mere two minutes after they had left the kitchen, Aurora and Gabrielle ran down the staircase towards the reception room, giving orders to Anderson as they ran. As soon as they crossed the doorpost of the reception room, both flamed away in a pillar of blue fire.

They arrived to a scene of utter chaos. The docks of the island where they had arrived were on fire and the outer wards, that had extended to just before the docks began, were gone. Dozens of bodies, of both guards and robed Death Eaters, littered the ground and the walkway leading to the immense block of stone that was Azkaban prison was slippery with blood and seawater.

Hundreds of figures were milling around before the gates which were luckily still closed but were heavily under assault as hundreds of spells slammed into the magic infused gates. As they ran the 500 yards to the gates, they were blown outwards and a horde of people in prison rags came running out. They were surrounding a group of some 40 men and women who were also dressed in rags but kept their heads high in defiance. Even more people in prison rags followed them out, raising the number of Death Eaters around the prison to well over 2,000.

Just as they came in reach and started sending fireballs into the horde of Death Eaters, dozens of pops could be heard around them as their reinforcements began streaming in. First were all 6 of their rapid response squads. All clad in black EXO's, they had put their MWS' on auto fire and the moment they landed, they added their fire power to that of Aurora and Gabrielle. A few handfuls of guards who were still alive and were firing from the small windows in the prison's outer wall shot some sporadic spells into the horde, but they did not do much damage and soon stopped firing altogether.

As the Death Eaters started to drop in their dozens, they finally became aware of the new arrivals. A wall of spellfire, in every color of the rainbow was sent at them, with little visible effect. Cutting curses, fireballs, blasting hexes and the individual unforgiveable were send at them, most of which splattered apart harmlessly against the EXO's or where dodged. A few yells of pain could be heard from behind them, in addition to a few dull 'THUD's as bodies fell on the ground. The intensity of fire coming from behind them did not diminish though, only increase. After a few minutes, a series of pops began to sound behind them and suddenly the firepower increased exponentially as Dan arrived with two companies of the 1st marine regiment.

Barrages of grenades were launched into the horde before them even as the gunfire kept its wall of fire intact. The outer edges of the Death Eaters used protego's and other protective spells to try and protect themselves from the deadly missiles, but the spells were quickly overwhelmed by the Hellfire rounds which needed only four or five hits to penetrate a medium-powered protego.

As the outer ranks fell, the inner ranks began to disappear as the inner anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards around the island were finally brought down. Seconds after they fell, reinforcements began arriving from the ministry, as aurors and hit wizards apparated to the island. It would appear that the ministry had ways to tell if the wards around Azkaban were broken.

Now a domino effect began to take place as the Death Eaters began to disappear in mass while more and more reinforcements began to arrive from the ministry. Those reinforcements though kept their distance as they saw the firing lines of the Legion advancing on the now quickly retreating Death Eaters.

In the end it took less than 10 minutes from the moment Aurora and Gabrielle arrived until the last Death Eaters disappeared. When silence finally fell over the corpse strewn field before the open prison gates, a trio of ministry personnel slowly approached the still wary Legionnaires. Amelia Bones, flanked by Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Rufus Scrimgeour carefully walked forward, making sure to stay in the field of vision of the Legionnaires that guarded the rear of their force.

Before they made it more than two dozen yards though, the trio found themselves face to face with two red skulls. A frighteningly familiar voice, to Amelia and Kingsley at least, snarled, " _You get that fat little fucker here right this instant."_

The tone raised more than a few hairs in fright, and Amelia quickly rounded on Rufus, "Get back to the ministry and get Fudge here. I don't give a shit what he is doing, stun him if you have to, but get him here." Rufus looked only slightly confused before a soft snarl coming from one of the masks opposite him made him apparate away on the spot.

As they waited Aurora contacted Avalon. _"Angel one for Arthur,"_

" _Anderson here, go ahead,"_

" _How many did we lose?"_

For a short while there was silence before Anderson replied, _"16 dead, 7 temporarily crippled and 19 wounded, of whom 5 are critical."_

" _Fuck,"_ was her short reply before closing the connection and resuming her wait.

Barely two minutes later he came back, accompanied by a stunned Fudge. On direction of Aurora, Rufus floated Fudge towards the prison until he was between the Legionnaires and the prison, right amongst the eviscerated corpses of the fallen Death Eaters. There he stood him back on his feet and faced him toward the prison before enervating him.

Fudge stumbled as he was re-awoken, leading him to fall on his hands and knees, causing spurts of rainwater, mud, and blood to spatter on his bottle green pin striped robes. As soon as he saw what he was kneeling in, Fudge threw up, soiling his robes even more.

As he staggered to his feet, Fudge began to look around him, losing more and more color until he could be mistaken for a ghost. As he finally turned around to look behind him, he found himself staring at the nearly six-hundred Legionnaires standing in a rough half circle with the two Dark Angels barely two yards away from him. Amelia, Kingsley, and Rufus had quickly retreated back a few dozen yards towards the Legion's lines and out of harm's way.

"Wha… wha… wha… happened here?" He asked with eyes wide with fear and his hands clamping so hard on his chest it looked as if he was trying to manually stop his hart from beating 300 miles an hour.

"It would appear that the Death Eaters have assaulted _your_ prison, freeing every single member of Voldemort's Inner Circle that had been imprisoned therein, along with I don't know how many of the other Death Eaters." Gabrielle spoke in a cold and very unsympathetic tone.

"But… but… the dem… dementors…"

"Let them go without opposing them. _Your_ guards were overwhelmed and killed or fled. If we had not been warned about what was happening, they would have been able to make a clean getaway before anyone would have been the wiser." Gabrielle again cut him off without remorse.

"But… but… you killed…"

"YES WE KILLED THEM YOU PATHETIC LITTLE IDIOT!" Aurora roared into his face, apparently scaring a little bit of courage back into Fudge's trembling body as he straightened himself to his full 5 feet 4 inches. And halfheartedly tried to yell back,

"You do not have the authority to kill innocent…" but that was as far as he got.

 _BLAM_! Aurora struck him so hard on the jaw that even from where they were standing, Amelia, Kingsley, and Rufus could hear his jaw breaking before he was slammed into the bloody mud.

As he lay there, covered in filth and gore, Fudge looked up towards the Dark Angel who towered over him and snarled at him, "We lost 16 good soldiers today, each of them worth ten-thousand of those 'innocents' of you. You had better make some damn good efforts to recapture, or better yet, kill, every single one of them. Or _we_ will do it for you. And _we_ won't stop at the borders of the Ministry."

Aurora and Gabrielle briskly turned around and marched back to the beach, pausing only to snarl at Amelia, "Get this mess cleaned up and send a full report to the palace." Amelia didn't even have the chance to reply before they marched on. As they reached the Legionnaires, their ranks opened up to let them through as Auror ordered, "Back to the Island."

Each of the Legionnaires activated their 'home button', a Special goblin-made and overpowered portkey that could bypass the wards around Avalon, while Aurora and Gabrielle flamed away.

The two Angels reappeared on a deserted hilltop, with a ruin of some long abandoned and forgotten village nearby. Aurora tore off her mask and threw it away, letting out an anguished roar, "FUUUUUCK," as the tears ran across her face. "I'm gonne kill him, I swear by my father, I'm going to kill that fat little fucker."

"We can't Rora," Gabrielle replied a bit more calmly, though tears of grief and anguish covered her cheeks as well. "We can't," she repeated softly, while grabbing her wife in a tight hug, "not yet, but one day we will. He will pay for what he has done, but not yet, we can't just throw away a decade worth of planning over this. Our soldiers knew what they were headed into, they have always known what they were singing up for, and they went willingly. Now is not the time to avenge them, now is the time to honor their sacrifice and give them a worthy resting place. We always knew we would lose soldiers in this fight, that hasn't changed, the only thing that has changed, is that it started a bit sooner than we had hoped."

It was a long while before Aurora replied, staying in her wife's loving arms as she wept for the lives that had been lost because of Fudge's incompetence.

"You know what he will do, he will blame us for interfering with a ministry matter and try to blame the Legion for letting so many escape."

"He can try," Aurora snarled as she finally let go of her wife, "but if he brings this to the Wizengamot I will destroy him.

"Let's go home love, we need to clean up and tell Elizabeth what happened, then we must go to Avalon and prepare for the funeral, the first in a decade."

An hour later, just as they left their bathroom after a shower, Amelia's eagle Patronus soared into the room and said, " _Report gathered, please meet at Palace in 5 minutes."_ Quickly they dressed themselves in simple Legion uniforms and having kept their presence quite from the others, they flamed into the reception room from where they floo'd to Buckingham Palace.

Upon their arrival, they were already awaited by Elizabeth, Anderson, McAndrews, Ragnok, and a muggle delegation consisting of the Prime Minister Alexander Hodgins, Chief of the General Staff Harold Murphy, and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service Judith Clarke. All three muggles had been briefed about magic upon being named to office, so they were not that surprised when they came walking out of the fireplace. They only had to wait for a minute before they were joined by Amelia and they made their way towards a conference room down the hallway.

Once seated, Aurora took the lead and looked around the table. "Your Majesty, Ladies, Gentlemen, I have some bad news. Earlier this morning we received a warning from Amelia Bones, the head of the DMLE, that a Death Eater attack was taking place at Azkaban Prison. When we arrived with our rapid response units, we were confronted by a full out assault, by well over 800 Death Eaters. Despite taking heavy losses, the Death Eaters managed to free a large number of their incarcerated compatriots."

A murmur of dismay and angered whispers broke out after Aurora sat down and lasted until Amelia stood up. "After investigating the 'remains', we estimate that of the 1,387 Death Eaters that were imprisoned in Azkaban, 1,328 got away alive, including all 42 members of the Inner Circle. Of the Death Eaters who broke them out, nearly half died as we found 394 identifiable bodies, in addition to some 2,00 square foot of unidentifiable parts. If our worst estimates are true, then some 900 more Death Eaters are free than there were yesterday.

In addition to this number, the complete Inner Circle is now once more on the loose. I hope I don't need to tell any of you about the mayhem that can be caused by individuals like, Dolohov, Rookwood, Mulciber, Crouch Junior, the Lestranges and let's not forget Lucy Malfoy and his compatriots we had sent to Azkaban."

This caused another murmur until Elizabeth slammed her hand on the table and everyone shut up at once. "I want to know what you think Fudge will do now, where those Death Eaters are probably going, and what we will tell the public of Britain, and how is this going to affect them."

"Fudge is going to try and blame this on the Legion," Aurora replied immediately, "a move I will block with a Founders Veto if I have to. But apart from that, knowing him he will duck his head under his desk and go crying to the I.C.W. , a move I think we should try to block. As for the muggle population," Aurora looked briefly to the trio opposite from her before continuing.

"I do not think that Voldy will let the escapees run amok amongst the normal population. The last war has taught him that the muggle army is not to be underestimated when backed-up by the Legion so he won't risk something before he is ready."

"As for what the Death Eaters will be doing" Gabrielle took over, "I think I know why this escape was staged. Voldemort needed a few of his key minions, including Dolohov, who as you probably know, is an expert on necromancy and other resurrecting magic's and rituals. If I am correct, Voldy needs Dolohov to get his own body back, which leaves him with only three possibilities to do so."

"So what do we tell the public?" Prime Minister Hodgins asked as he was trying to digest this latest news.

"As little as possible," Elizabeth replied immediately, "We need to avoid a spreading of panic." Turning to the Police Commissioner Judith Clarke she added, "Spread the news that several highly dangerous criminals have escaped from Wakefield prison. I propose a group consisting of terrorists and murderers, with the warning not to approach any suspicious individuals but to call a special number. This number will be answered directly by Legion Rapid Response Units."

"Units which will have to be rebuild though," Anderson replied shortly. "Out of 60 Rapid Response Legionnaires, we lost 16 directly, while 3 more died later at the hospital. 7 are crippled until their wounds are healed and prosthetics can be crafted, while 16 more are injured and will be unavailable for at least a month more. So that leaves us with only 18 available, less than 2 units."

"Start rebuilding as soon as you return," Aurora began and after a short look at Gabrielle she added, "Try to raise their number to 20 units if you can, I have a feeling we're going to need them in the short future."

Anderson nodded and replied, "I don't think we'll have much trouble finding recruits after what happened today. Most who were present seemed eager for some payback at the Death Eaters when they returned."

"Good," Gabrielle replied," but give them orders to try and capture any Death Eaters they find. We need to interrogate them about their plans and whereabouts _before_ , they are put to death."

"I agree," Elizabeth nodded, "It is of paramount importance to get as many Death Eaters off the streets as fast as we can, just make sure that none of the ones you catch are left alive after the interrogation."

Turning back to the three muggles Elizabeth continued, "I want every tourist attraction and public gathering point in London to be patrolled extensively by armed military personnel in civilian disguise. The police are to increase their visible patrols in every city and tourist place in the country. I want it to be very clear to everyone of your armed forces that no direct action is to be taken against the Death Eaters as long as no civilians are in direct danger, but they are to call it in immediately and wait for Legion personnel to arrive. If civilian lives are threatened, use of deadly force is authorized."

Everyone nodded, and Elizabeth dismissed Murphy and Clarke, leaving the Prime Minster and the magical participants behind.

As soon as they had taken their leave, Aurora rounded on the PM and said, "Alexander, I want you to call an emergency meeting of the U.N.S.C.. it is now," she quickly checked her wristwatch before continuing, "11:06 AM, so let's say for 15:00, our time, this afternoon in New York. I will brief them on the situation and our actions taken to counter the threat." After he nodded, he stood up and said his goodbye's before leaving the room as well. Next Aurora turned on Amelia and continued,

"Amelia, please call an emergency meeting for the I.C.W. this afternoon in Geneva for 17:00 our time but be sure to _not_ invite Pudgy and Bumbles. Next call a meeting of the Wizengamot meeting on my authority for 20:00 tonight, presence is mandatory for every member. I'm Sure Pudgy is anxious to blame someone so give him the time to pick a target." Amelia nodded in acceptance of the assignment but remained silent, as Elizabeth had made it clear she wanted to say something.

"Do you think it would be wise for me to be present at the Wizengamot tonight?" She asked with a very uncharacteristic hesitance in her voice.

"I think it's best not." Aurora answered grimly, "If I know Pudgy, it's going to get messy at the meeting and it would be best if you were not present. That way you could intervene afterwards if one of us steps out of line and goes too far."

"That's a good idea, I'll do that. But just for clarification how far are you likely to go?"

"Don't know really," Aurora replied somberly, "it will depend on how Pudgy behaves himself. But if I have to, I have a standing arrangement with Ragnok that at a moment's notice from me…"

"I will have teams standing at the ready to seize every ministry vault and property in Gringotts until the remaining 14.6 billion galleon debt is paid in full." Ragnok completed with a toothy grin. "And by the latest estimate, that will mean _everything they own_ and then some."

"WHAT," Amelia exclaimed in shock. "Do you have any idea what that would lead to. Would you really bankrupt the ministry just to spite Pudgy?"

"Yes I would," Aurora replied coldly, "And it wouldn't be first time I did it. Why do you think I keep investing so heavily into every Ministry re-boot? And by the way, why do you care Amelia, all this is in your favor. Once that little fucker gives me a sound enough reason to replace him, I'm putting you in command."

Amelia visibly paled after that little tirade before she stammered, "But… but… you… you don't have that kind of authority, you'll need all seven of the Seats of Power to sack a minister."

"Who said anything about sacking him?" Gabrielle replied calmly. "All it takes is for Fudge to fuck up bad enough to piss off either the I.C.W. or the U.N.S.C., and they'll give Aurora and me every authority we need to stage a military coup and install _you_ , as the leader of a new government."

Amelia seamed even more confused by this information so before either Aurora or Gabrielle could continue, Elizabeth cut in. "That's enough." Turning to Aurora and Gabrielle she added, "You two go on ahead and inform the kids of what is going on, I will tell Amelia what is going on, so that she'll know the full plan we made at the end of the first war."

"Yes Ma'am." Aurora and Gabrielle replied calmly before leaving the room and heading back to Potter Manor through the floo.

When they arrived back at the manor, they called Charles. When the elf appeared Gabrielle asked him, "Where is everyone Charles?"

"In the game room Mistress," he spoke softly. "They are all very worried."

"As they should be," Aurora muttered softly before thanking Charles who popped away. Heading to the game room they steeled themselves for the questions they would no doubt have to answer.

During the morning Harry and the girls, along with Emma and the elves had tried to occupy themselves with playing games or watching television, but it didn't work much. There was little they could think of other than what was happening at Azkaban, or the consequences that would develop from it.

Being on edge as they were, all six jumped up when the door opened and Luna was the first to yell, "MOM," and ran at the two women who had just entered, followed closely by the quartet.

Gabrielle caught Luna in her arms and hugged her fiercely while Ginny and Fleur hugged the both of them. Harry and Hermione had enveloped Aurora in a bear hug, a thing that was made easier by their now approximately 17-year old bodies.

"How did it go?" Emma asked softly, concern clear in her eyes.

"Badly," Aurora replied while the kids let them go and they all moved to the couches. Luna took her place between Aurora and Gabrielle while Harry and the girls took the other couch and Emma a chair.

"We got there just in time to see the Death Eaters break open the prison and free every single Inner Circle member that had been locked up there. We managed to kill half the assault force, some 400 or so, but they still broke out over 1,300 of their fellows." After a long pause she added softly, "… we lost 19 Legionnaires today."

"Dan…" Emma asked fearfully."

"Is safe and unharmed," Gabrielle quickly reassured her." When he arrived with reinforcements the battle was won and the Death Eaters fled.

After another short silence, Harry asked, "What, what happens now?"

"For the moment nothing yet." Gabrielle answered. "We are going to try to hem in the damage as much as possible. Later today we have meetings with the I.C.W., the U.N.S.C., and the Wizengamot, and we'll try to put Fudge under pressure to let the Legion handle this, but knowing him, he'll just blame the whole thing on us either way."

These words proved truer than she could have ever feared. The meetings with the I.C.W. and the U.N.S.C. went as well as they could have. Both organizations decided unanimously to grant all emergency authority to the Legion for the duration of the crisis, and pledged their full support to the Legion should Fudge or his administration take steps against them. However, this was on the condition that the British government stayed intact as it was, so no replacing anyone.

At precisely 19:55, Aurora walked into the Wizengamot chamber flanked by Gabrielle and Lord Ragnok. Ivan and 20 Black Angels were waiting in the hallway under disillusioned to take action should Fudge overstep his authority and try to have Aurora arrested.

As they took their places in the marble thrones, Aurora carefully studied the faces of every department head that was present. With the exception of Croaker, they all were in attendance and every single one looked worried. Their worry though was not what fascinated them. Compared to the blabbering mess they had last seen him as that morning. Fudge now looked calm and almost dignified as he sat in his chair and looked around him with an air of self-confidence he had been lacking so far.

At precisely 20:05, Dumbledore opened the meeting as he stood up and said, "Good evening My Lords, My Ladies, I assume that you all have heard what happened this morning so the reason for this meeting should be clear. But just to sum it up; this morning, a large group of Death Eaters attacked Azkaban Prison and freed every single one of their compatriots that had been imprisoned therein. During the breakout the Shadow Legion arrived and inflicted heavy casualties, but the bulk of the Death Eaters managed to escape. It now falls to this body to determine what is to be done about this."

As he sat down Amelia stood up and gave her report to the Wizengamot. Afterwards she added, "A search of the prison revealed that the confiscated wands that had been held there have also been stolen. This means that baring some physical recovering, every single Death Eater we had locked up is to be considered armed and very dangerous. To this end I suggest that we motion Her Majesty if the Legion could hunt them down as the DMLE does not have the manpower to search for and apprehend over a thousand armed Death Eaters."

"I second that motion," Aurora declared as she stood up, looking straight at Fudge as if she could force him to stay quiet by just looking him in the eyes. To no avail though.

"NO," Fudge said so hard he was just a bit shy of yelling. "I will not permit those murderers to organize manhunts in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. And if the DMLE cannot spare the manpower to hunt them down, then I will send out the Dementors to protect the people."

"The Dementors," Aurora objected while standing up from her seat and adding sarcastically. "Now that's a good idea. Have them hunted by the very creatures who stood by and let them escape."

"That is not true," Doloris Umbridge nearly shrieked from her desk from where she once more acted as scribe, her face red with indignation. "The Dementors were scattered by a spell used by the Death Eaters. They are fully obedient to the Ministry and any suggestion they are not will be viewed as an attempt to spread panic."

"May I remind the Madam Under Secretary that she is NOT a member of the Wizengamot and in her function as scribe she is expected to be silent. If I hear from you again I will have you removed from the chamber and a different scribe assigned." Aurora's hissed words caused both Fudge and Umbridge to turn a color of purple that was truly impressive.

"That is completely irrelevant as the point stands true," Fudge huffed in anger. "The Dementors are completely under Ministry control and they will do what I, _the Minister_ , order them to do. I will issue orders to the Dementors to start patrolling in every magical town and meeting place until the Death Eaters are once more locked behind bars."

"Are you really so stupid to order dark creatures to patrol in civilian areas." Aurora deadpanned, "May I remind you that the I.C.W. has strictly forbidden the use of dark creatures by any member government, no matter the circumstances." This last point raised a murmur from the other members of the Wizengamot who, until now, had remained silent. None dared to interrupt the verbal duel between the minister and a High Lady.

"The I.C.W. has no authority in this matter." Fudge coldly answered. "This is an internal matter and so it is up to _me_ to decide whether or not we use dark creatures in the hunt for dangerous fugitives."

"NO IT IS NOT." Aurora roared, bringing the chamber to a deafening silence. Marching down the marble stairs, she walked to the lectern before stepping on it. In a softer, but no less impressive tone she continued, "If you are so blinded by your delusions, then you leave me no choice."

Slowly looking around the chamber, she next used her official voice. "I, High Lady Aurora, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys, hereby use my Founders Veto. I _forbid_ the ministry from using dementors in civilian areas. If you do so regardless, then I swear by my House, I will bring the full power of the I.C.W. down on your head."

A shocked gasp ran through the chamber as this figurative bomb landed. They had all seen what had happened last time Fudge had ignored her, and he had been forced to crawl back on his knees when the I.C.W. had confirmed her demands.

"I AM THE MINISTER HERE," Fudge now roared through the silence jumping to his feet and gesturing wildly with his arms. "I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE, YOU DO NOT GET TO FORBID ME ANYTHING." Now turning to his own official voice Fudge spoke.

"I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic of Great Britain, _Decree…_ "

"Careful Fudge," Aurora interrupted him with a warning tone in her voice and her eyes turning darker. "You better think damn good about what you are about to do, for the consequences will be on your head, and yours alone."

Sniffing derisively, fudge ignored her and began anew. "I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister of Magic of Great Britain, _decree_ that starting tomorrow morning; The dementors of Azkaban will begin patrolling all magical communities in Britain, including Hogwarts."

"THAT'S IT," Aurora now roared in reply before snarling, "You overstepped Fudge." Turning to Ragnok she said, "Lord Ragnok, you have my permission to begin."

The goblin leader stood up, made a short bow to Aurora and said, "It shall be done My Lady." Before walking out of the chamber leaving a shocked audience behind.

Apparently the only one who did not realize what had just happened was Fudge, who looked confused towards Amelia who had now also jumped from her seat and began running to the door followed by most of the other department heads. "Where are you going?" He demanded indignantly though none of them answered.

Surprisingly enough it was Dumbledore who helped him out. "They are going to try to save their departments from ruination thanks to you minister." When Fudge turned towards him he explained further. "You seem to have forgotten that the ministry still owes High Lady Emrys some 14.6 billion galleons, a debt she has just called in."

Fudge's face fell so fast from red to white that he might as well have become a ghost, as Dumbledore drove home his point with a last addition. "Congratulations Fudge, you are the first Minister in the world for the last 500 years, who has managed to bankrupt his own administration."

"That is correct," Aurora added with a vicious smirk before removing three scrolls of parchment from her robes. All three where heavily hung with official seals and each seal carried the letters I.C.W.

"I have here," She held up the first scroll, "Three scrolls, each one signed by each member of the High Council of the I.C.W.. On my house and on my life I swear that these have been given to me by the Chairman of the High council of the I.C.W." after a white flash indicated that her oath had been accepted by Magical Law, she opened the scroll and read out loud.

 _Order of dismissal_

 _By order of the High Council, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is hereby dismissed from the office of Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. For reasons of incompetence in preventing the use of Dark Creatures by the British Ministry of Magic._

 _As signed by order of the Council,_

 _His Excellency Burggraf Karl Siegfried von Steinbergen, Chairman of the High Council."_

To Aurora's enjoyment, Dumbledore looked as if he had been hit in the face with a shovel, he had held that position for neigh on thirty years and almost never received complaints about his work.

While the Wizengamot was digesting this news, Aurora opened the second scroll and after clearing her throat, which instantly silenced everyone, she read;

" _Notification of Appointment._

 _By unanimous election of the entire Confederation, the duly appointed representative of Germany his Excellency Burggraf Karl Siegfried von Steinbergen, has been elected as the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards._

 _The position of Chairmen of the High Council has by unanimous vote been granted to the Honorable Emanuel Boreiro, duly appointed representative of the Magical Mexican Republic._

 _As signed by order of the Council,_

 _Emanuel Boreiro, Chairman of the High Council._

The only one who seemed to have picked up the implication of this letter was Dumbledore as he stared at Aurora, his eyes widened with fear after hearing the words, 'by unanimous vote'. With a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach, he looked at the third and last scroll she now held in her hands.

This time she did not need to ask for silence as almost none recognized what Dumbledore had and waited for the final damning message in the last scroll with baited breath. A held breath that was let out with exclamations of anger, shock, and fear upon hearing the first sentence.

" _Order of Excommunication._

 _By unanimous decision of the entire assembly of the International Confederation of Wizards, the Supreme Mugwump and the High Council hereby declare that the entirety of Magical Britain is hereby declared as being Excommunicated._

 _The above is in accordance with the Ban on the use of Dark Magical Creatures of 1792. After ignoring the repeated warnings from the I.C.W., the Ministry of Magic of Britain is still using dementors as prison guards. In light of the recent outbreak from Azkaban Prison and the likely intended use of dementors in populated areas, this is a direct violation of the Ban, leaving the I.C.W. no choice but to act._

 _All international cooperation, international trade, and international magical diplomacy with, from, or to Magical Britain is herby suspended until further notice. All British diplomats are to be recalled within 36 hours else they be arrested and deported. This penalty is until further notice and will only be lifted after the complete destruction of the dementor population, and the writing of a ministerial decree stating that no further use is to be made of dementors, or other Dark Creatures._

 _In according to the wishes of the of the High Council, emergency powers surrounding the international coordination of the hunt for the escaped Death Eaters is granted to High Lady Aurora of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Emrys._

 _As signed by order of the Council,_

 _His Excellency Burggraf Karl Siegfried von Steinbergen Supreme Mugwump of the I.C.W._

Lowering the scroll and rolling it up again, Aurora couldn't completely suppress a smirk at seeing Fudge's flabbergasted face, a look that was shared by almost everyone in the chamber. The only one who seemed to accept it was Dumbledore, who looked remarkably calm, though his eyes did look worried.

Clearing her throat she gave a decent impression of Umbridge when she wanted to say something and after everyone looked at her again she looked at the minister and said, "So Fudge, as you can see, this is most definitely a matter within the authority of the I.C.W.."

Looking at the wider Wizengamot, she added, "All of you with children can rest assured that none of those monsters will set foot in Hogwarts. The queen has given me authority concerning the safety of Hogwarts and the students, and I will ask her majesty to station a company of Legionnaires at the school to protect it from any dementor who tries to cross the wards, and against the Death Eaters of course." That last she added as an afterthought, but the message was clear. She did not trust the dementors and was not afraid to let it be known.

After that little speech she nodded at Dumbledore and said, "Headmaster, please inform the castle that I will require the North Wing to be readied for occupation. You can expect the Legion to arrive at the 31st of august, so please make sure that everything is in order then."

Dumbledore merely nodded, as nothing more was required under the current circumstances and Aurora marched out of the chamber, flanked by Gabrielle who met her at the end of the stairs.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Aurora let go of her anger and her hair shot outwards is crimson flames. "THAT BASTARD," she fumed, being glad for the soundproofing wards surrounding the doors they had just closed. "A _decree_ , that idiot actually issued a decree."

"Nothing we can do about it now love," Gabrielle tried to shush her wife, mindful of any possible eavesdroppers. "You did what you could and the ministry will force him to recall that decree soon enough once the money dries up. When Ragnok is done seizing everything they have, they will still owe us billions so there isn't much they can do but agree with our demands."

"No," Aurora softly answered when her hair had turned back to normal. "No, something tells me this will not be so easy. Pudgy was to assured of himself. There is something he didn't tell the chamber about, something that made him stiffen his spine. I don't know what he'll do, but this won't be over in a matter of days."

And indeed it was not.

Author's note:

I hope you all enjoyed reading that and I am very curious as to what you think will happen next. Please let me know what you think as I love hearing from my readers.

Till next time,

MM


	37. Chapter 37

Harry Potter and the Shadow Legion

Part 2

Chapter 36

The morning after the Wizengamot meeting, the Daily Prophet had the headline of the century, and the titles of the other main stories where all eye catching as well.

 _BRITAIN EXCOMMUNICATED BY THE I.C.W._

 _MINISTRY BANKRUPT AFTER HIGH LADY EMRYS CALLS IN ALL DEBTS_

 _MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN PRISON_

 _DUMBLEDORE SACKED AS SUPREME MUGWUMP_

 _MINISTER FOOLISHLY DECREES DEMENTORS ARE TO PATROL ALL MAGICAL COMMUNITIES_

 _HIGH LADY EMRYSS FORBIDS THE DEMONTORS FROM ENTERING HOGWARTS_

 _INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF QUIDDITCH SAYS; 'WORLD CUP FINAL WILL STILL BE PLAYED IN BRITAIN'_

 _HIGH LADY EMRYS OFFERS TO FUND QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP FINAL SINCE MINISTRY CAN'T PAY_

"Hmm," Aurora mused to the rest of the kitchen after she finished reading the headlines out loud, "It would seem that Rita went all out against the Minister, I'm glad to see she can listen when properly 'encouraged'."

"What did you do to her?" Hermione asked with a smirk to which Gabrielle replied,

"We told her that, as long as she writes bad things about Pudgy, Umbitch and the rest of those idiots, her job is safe and she will get 5% of the Daily Prophet's profits." They all shared a laugh about that, as if there was one thing Rita was good for, then it was to dig up dirt on people and destroy their name in the most outrageous manner.

"What was that with the Quidditch World Cup mom?" Harry questioned after a short while, his interests were peaked at this subject as he was a bit bummed out that his moms had forced him to quit the Gryffindor Quidditch team for the coming year. He understood that with the planned private lessons he would no longer have the time for Quidditch practice, but he would miss the excuse to go flying none the less.

"Well Harry," Aurora began, "during the end of our meeting with the I.C.W. yesterday, it was brought up that the Quidditch World Cup was planned to be held in Britain next summer. I offered to sponsor the event myself since the ministry is no longer able to do so. A location and design for the stadium have already been chosen. But with the money no longer available from the ministry, the Quidditch Association wanted to know if they would have to find a different country to host the event. With any luck, we'll be able to fetch a decent profit from the tickets sales and sponsorship fees."

"Talking about sponsors," Emma interjected with a thoughtful look on her face. "Don't you two own the biggest broom-making company in the world?"

"We do," Gabrielle replied a bit confused, she could sense that neither she nor her wife had any idea of why Emma would ask this, she absolutely hated brooms after Harry and Hermione had nearly killed themselves chasing Sparky in the ballroom only to collide in mid-air some 20 feet above the white marble floor. Only a bout of accidental magic on Hermione's part had saved them from serious injury.

"Well," Emma continued hesitantly, having noticed the looks of Aurora and Gabrielle, "I thought that if your goal is to improve your own standing within the international magical world, then maybe you could offer to sponsor each participating national team with brand new racing brooms."

The others all looked a bit impressed with this idea, especially since Emma was probably the least involved with the magical world of all of them.

"That would be an excellent publicity stunt for the Firebolt, as it is done and close to release." Gabrielle mused softly more to herself than to the others.

"IT IS?!" Both Harry and Ginny said at the same time. Both had been anxiously waiting for a chance to fly after Harry's less than entirely safe first test flight the previous summer.

Over the year it had mostly been those two who had tested the Black Bolts they had been given last summer and their reports about the performances of the Brooms had helped greatly in fine-tuning the designs of both the Black Bolt and the Firebolt. In fact, the Black Bolt had already been officially approved for mass-production, though the existence of the model was kept secret and the first 600 brooms were reserved for the MSS to create a special aerial assault corps.

"Yes kids," Gabrielle nodded gently, "It's ready and the first models are already being constructed as we speak." Turning to Emma she added, "But as for your suggestion, I'll put the offer out to the Quidditch Association and if they accept, we'll start shipping them out all over the world within a fortnight."

Emma nodded with a grin on her face happy that the idea had been accepted.

The next few minutes were silent as everyone focused on their breakfast until they were disturbed by Furya, who flew into the kitchen through the large open window. The small dragon landed carefully before Aurora and rose on her hind legs, offering easy access to the metal tube strapped to her chest. Aurora took the scroll from the tube and after offering Furya a small plate with crisped bacon, she broke the seal and began to read.

Her face soon turned serious before passing on to thoughtful. After she finished she looked at Gabrielle who nodded, she had read along through their link and so knew what the letter held.

"What's wrong?" Dan asked, a bit worried. More bad news was not exactly what they needed right now.

"Nothing wrong exactly, but things did become a bit more interesting." Holding the letter up she continued, "This letter comes from Robert Bruce the 15th and current Lord Bruce. He heard about what happened at Azkaban and he requests if he can be present at the entombment of the fallen."

"What could he want?" Dan asked, now sharing their line of thought. "Neville is nowhere near ready to take up the Longaxe. And as far as I know, no one has informed him, or any of the clans for that matter, that we have a wielder for the Longaxe."

"Exactly Dan," Aurora replied, "Which is why I said that it just got more interesting, as we don't have a clue what he might want. I'll allow his request though, as two of the fallen were Scottish, and knowing him he'll come to offer a proper salute."

Silence reigned for the rest of breakfast as all thought went to the funeral ceremony, which was planned for the next day, the 31st of August. Today, Harry, the girls and Luna would go with Aurora and Gabrielle to Avalon to get fitted for their dress uniforms, something they did not have yet as they had not expected them to need it before they were fully grown.

Fitting the dress uniforms was rather easy as they were available in pretty much all sizes, so it was just a matter of finding the right size and then have the proper name plates made and attached. The uniforms were exactly the same as the ones they had seen Aurora, Gabrielle and Dan wear, just far less decorated and with a simple black beret instead of a peaked cap.

After the fitting they went to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies for the coming year. Most of it was rather straight forward, books, potion ingredients, new school robes and other small knickknacks.

The alley was not the same as the previous times they had been there though. It was far less crowded and the people that were there did their shopping hurriedly and in tight knit groups. Teams of aurors patrolled around the alley and no less then 24 armed and armored goblins stood guard outside of Gringotts. Large posters with mugshots of the escaped Inner Circle members hung in several of the shop windows, with warnings not to approach them but to notify the ministry at once if one was spotted.

Upon their entering Ollivanders, the old shopkeeper sighed dejectedly upon recognizing Aurora. When she gently pushed Luna forward, he muttered softly to himself before addressing Luna, "Ah Miss Lovegood, what can I do for you, is there something wrong with your wand? Beach and dragon heartstring, if I remember correctly, 11 inches and rather flexible."

"No sir, everything is just fine with my wand." Luna replied cheerily while pulling out her wand and showing it to him. Next, she showed him her ring and added, "But haven't you heard, it's Emrys now."

As Ollivander's eyes were drawn to the ring, an understanding and somewhat resigned look spread over his face and he said, "Please come to the counter then Miss Emrys, let's get you a proper wand." Luna smiled angelically as she skipped towards the counter, brimming with enthusiasm.

Ollivander walked up and down the gangway as he collected a pile of boxes. Placing them on the counter before Luna he said, "Please pick the ones that feel the best to you." Luna quickly picked a rectangular and a round box, but not a square one.

Before Ollivander could remark on this Luna said, "I will have these two and the feather my mom has in her pocket."

After a short silence both Aurora and Gabrielle burst out in laughter and Gabrielle removed a rectangular black box from her robe. Handing the box to Ollivander she said, "Be careful with this, it might well be the last of it's kind."

Ollivander made a small bow and when he carefully opened the box, a beautiful golden feather was revealed. With a soft gasp Hermione asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

Gabrielle nodded and replied, "It is Hermione, this is a tail feather of Tempestea, the only one Merlin managed to talk her into parting with."

To the surprise of the kids, Ollivander sat down at the counter and summoned his tools before beginning to shape the block of Ash wood. When Hermione asked Gabrielle why Ollivander made Luna's wand at the counter as he had with Harry's instead of going to his workshop like he had done with the others.

"That, Miss Granger," Ollivander spoke without looking up from his work, "is because I am working with core materials that are not mine to begin with and are priceless if sold on the black market. To make sure my customers cannot accuse me of withholding some of the material, I use it in front of them and show them that I use it all in their ordered wands."

"Has that happened a lot?" Harry asked curiously as he watched Ollivander split the carved shape of the wand in two and began to carefully chisel out a hollow for the feather to fit into.

"Not since my ancestors began doing it like this, Mister Potter, but before that it did happen regularly yes."

They waited in silence for the next 10 minutes until Ollivander sealed the two halves back together with the feather locked securely within. After cleaning it thoroughly, he attached a large sapphire to the handle with molten silver. After a final polish, he placed the wand in a velvet lined box and offered the box to Luna with the words, "Here you are Miss Emrys; Ash,12 inches, a black and golden Opal as focus, and the tail feather of a Guardian Spirit as a core."

When Luna took the wand and held it up, a large fountain of golden and silver stars shot out of the tip and Luna smiled, utter joy written on her face as she whispered to the wand, "And now you're mine, if you look after me, I'll do the same for you."

"That is as it should be miss, the connection between wand and user is a two-way partnership." Ollivander said with an approving nod while he produced two dragon hide wand holsters from beneath the counter.

Turning to Aurora, who had already taken out her trusted Gringotts Gold Card, he added, "That will be 250 galleons for the wand and 50 for the holsters for a total of 300 galleons." With a nod Aurora paid him and the group left the shop to a by now very familiar dark corner.

"Yes, yes, I know," Luna said with a grin, "Don't get caught with a battle wand unless it is a life or death situation. Harry already told me the rules." Harry nodded to this, also with a big grin on his face and they followed the two adults toward the Leaky Cauldron.

Upon reaching the pub, Gabrielle called Daisy to take their bags while they went on into muggle London to buy new sports clothes for all of them, as according to Aurora, they would be needing them for their private lessons. They ended the day by eating at a McDonalds, which was a novelty for Luna and she poked rather suspiciously at the Chicken McNuggets Gabrielle had suggested she order.

The next morning when they woke up, the kids found their new dress uniforms hanging on the closet doors. With a resigned sigh they got up one by one and headed for the showers, the girls going first as they needed more time with putting their hair up. Just as they were about done, and Harry was in the shower, there was a knock on the door and Luna entered. She was already dressed but her silvery hair was a mess and she looked rather frustrated while holding a brush and a comb. "I can't get my hair right."

The girls invited her to take a seat on the bed and Ginny, who's hair was already done, took the brush and quickly made it right for her. When Luna was also properly dressed and done up, they only had to wait a minute for Harry to exit the shower. He was likewise dressed and had his shoulder-length hair in a simple low ponytail. As he saw Luna he gave her a quick hug and then led the four girls to the elevator and then down to the kitchen where they found the others already at breakfast.

Aurora, Gabrielle and Dan were all dressed in similar dress uniforms, while Emma wore a simple black dress. Being a non-combatant member of the Legion, but one of the civilian employees, Emma did not have a dress uniform, nor was she allowed to wear one.

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair as all felt the subdued mood that usually precedes a funeral. Of the kids, only Luna had ever been to a funeral before which was her mother's. So they were not entirely sure how to act at a funeral for people they hadn't even known by name.

"Mom," Luna said softly after placing her spoon in her empty porridge bowl. When Aurora and Gabrielle looked at her with a gentle look she continued, "What will we be expected to do at the funeral?"

Gabrielle placed her hand over Luna's and said reassuringly, "Nothing at all sweetheart." Looking at the quartet before turning back to Luna she said a bit louder, "When we arrive, Lieutenant Saint-Clair will be waiting for you. She will stay with you, so just stick with her and do as she says. Aurora, Dan and I will be with the rest of High Command, so we can't keep an eye on you."

"Will Aunt Lizzie be there as well?" Harry asked next and Gabrielle nodded.

"She will, as will Thomas, President Rostock, and half a dozen other government leaders, every country who had soldiers amongst the fallen have agreed to come. We have sent them portkeys so they will arrive half an hour before the ceremony begins."

They all nodded and when Aurora finished her third plate of eggs, bacon and toast, they all stood up and said goodbye to the elves who continued to clear up the table. After following Gabrielle to the travel room, they each took a hold of the length of rope she handed out and held on tight when she activated, and overpowered it with the word, "Avalon,"

They were whisked away and after half a minute of dizzying swirling, they landed in the steel-clad travel room on Avalon. As soon as they landed, Hermione whipped out her wand and created a yellow bucket which she handed to Fleur. Luckily though, and quite surprisingly, she did not have to throw up for once. She was slightly green and feeling rather queasy for sure, but she managed to keep her breakfast where it was supposed to be.

When they left the travel room they found a pair of Humvees waiting to take them to the castle where the first part of the ceremony would take place. During the trip they saw all kinds of last-minute preparations taking place; Squads of Legionnaires were setting out rows upon rows of white folding chairs next to the mausoleum. A large platform had been built and covered by black velvet carpet. Nineteen white wooden tables were standing on the platform, waiting to bear their load.

Closer to the castle they saw a small fleet of black Humvees and other personal vehicles that would transport the guests the six miles from the travel point to the castle when they arrived for the ceremony.

When the drivers stopped before the massive castle gates, they were awaited by Anderson, Ivan and Francine. The former two were dressed in dress uniform and Francine wore a simple black dress. For the occasion she had used several glamours to hide her piercings and the visible parts of her tattoos. Her hair had been done in such a way that her mohawk covered her entire scalp and the black dress showed her figure perfectly while still being very modest and occasion appropriate.

Anderson led them into the castle and towards the great hall where the fallen Legionnaires had been placed after they had been prepared for the wake. Being placed upon a raised platform below the Banner, the nineteen plain oaken coffins were closed and were each covered by a large black flag showing the Mark of the Legion. Placed on each flag where large pictures of the fallen and stands with the medals they had earned over their careers.

As an honoring from their respective governments, each had posthumously received their nations highest award for valor. Present where 7 American Medals of Honor, 5 British Victoria Crosses, 3 French Legions of Honor, 3 Russian Orders "For Military Merit", and 1 German Großkreuz of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

One medal which had been awarded to all was the Legion's own award for Valor, The Order of Honor. It was a blackened-gold winged skull surrounded by a white golden laurel wreath hanging from a black ribbon.

The non-Legion loved ones and next of kin of the fallen had arrived at the island the day before and had been given the chance to say their goodbyes in private before the coffins had been closed and prepared for entombment.

Part of the recruitment process of every Legionnaire was the question of where they wanted to be buried if they were killed in the line of duty, and almost without exception everyone chose to be entombed in the mausoleum. To make this choice easier, there was an arrangement for their next of kin that they could come and visit whenever they wanted. All they needed to do was give a two-week notice so that airplane tickets could be arranged to Heathrow Airport and for any further arrangements to be made. A Gulfstream IV airplane had been acquired and given a complete overhaul to make it safe to cross the wards of Avalon and this would pick them up at Heathrow to bring them to the island.

After they all paid their respects to the next of kin, Aurora sent the kids off to find Boltrock at the Vault, as he had something for them, while the adults involved themselves with the last preparations.

"I'll send Saint-Claire to you when it's time to come back." Aurora said after them before Gabrielle added,

"And try to stay clean if you would."

They promised they would and then made their way out of the castle. They entered a Humvee which then brought them to the airport and once there they used the smaller personnel elevator to descend into the Vault proper.

Upon the doors opening they were immediately aware that it was remarkably quiet compared to the hammering on anvils they had heard the previous times they were there. The only sound came from Boltrock's workshop and was a soft melody played on a violin. Following the sound, they found the Master Engineer playing the instrument himself while seated on a simple wooden chair and looking at the framed picture of a female goblin with a child before her and a baby in her arms.

They listened in silence for a few minutes to the hauntingly beautiful music until Boltrock stopped playing and placed the instrument back in its case. He stood up from the chair and taking the picture frame from its place on the wall, he placed a tender kiss on the glass and whispered, "By the Earth Vader I miss you, it's been so long."

"Are… are you all right sir?" Fleur asked softly after Boltrock had placed the frame back on the wall and let out a deep sigh.

"Yes, children, I am all right. Just a bit melancholic, funerals always have this effect on me. They remind me of the fact that I never had the chance to say a worthy farewell to my family."

"What happened to them sir?" Luna asked when Boltrock came away from the wall and walked towards them.

"I was a known supporter of the Legion, so the Death Eaters went after them. One night when I came home I found the majority of my clan slaughtered and my wife, daughter and son taken. Both the Legion and the Goblin Nation searched every known hideout of the Death Eaters and hunted down everyone who could know where they were, but when we found them it was too late. Voldemort had personally dealt with them. They had been touched by Fiendfyre, and I watched them crumbling to ashes before my eyes.

I have set their ashes in our clan's tomb, but we goblins believe that the dead must be returned to the earth whole. If a body is burned, then it's soul vanishes in the void and can never return to the earth from which it came."

"Our condolences sir," Harry said solemnly, and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

Boltrock nodded in thanks before sighing again and squaring his shoulders. "Thank you kids, but my history is not why you are here. Come, I have something to show you."

He led them to a secluded corner of the workshop where a female version of the Mark 7 was standing with similar markings as the ones given to the quartet. Several spare parts were lying on a table next to it along with a small, black velvet jewelry box and four large objects hidden by a piece of cloth.

"Whose armor is that sir?" Luna asked a little hopeful as she recognized the markings.

As he walked up to the table, Boltrock picked up the jewelry box and turning back to the kids he opened it and said, "It's yours Miss Emrys." In the box was a control chip similar to the ones the quartet had attached to their spinal cords in their necks.

"Mine?" Luna asked a little unbelieving, "But mom said I had to wait at least ten more months before I got one."

"That is true," Boltrock agreed, "but the recent outbreak from Azkaban has changed that opinion drastically, as did their opinion of giving you these." At this last he pointed at the parts laying on the table.

As the kids inspected the items they couldn't discern any obvious function, so Hermione said, "Ehh sir, what are these?"

Now Boltrock gained a small grin and said, "These Miss Granger, are upgrades for your EXO's." He picked one up and showed it to them, it was a black colored rectangle of 4 by 12 inches and 3 inches thick and with an arm shaped indentation on one of the 4-inch sides. "This kids, is a foldable shield."

At seeing their disbelieving looks Boltrock walked over to the EXO and attached it to the left forearm. When it was attached properly, Boltrock turned the arm outwards and after opening the HUD, he selected the shield option and pressed the place marked as 'Activate'.

Immediately the shield transformed. It literally unfolded itself until it was 2 feet by 4 feet and half an inch thick. As it clicked itself shut, so it merged into one solid piece again, a soft glow came over it and with a grin Boltrock said, "Watch this kids," he plucked an unusually short wand from his belt and aimed it at the shield. He pushed a button on the handle and a blue beam shot out of the wand and hit the shield dead-centre. Instead of being blown to bits, the shimmering shield simply glowed a little before the curse was absorbed by the enchantments and runes on the shield and neutralized.

Looking up at the grinning kids he added, "These shields will protect you from everything short of an Avada Kedavra, as well as being fully bullet-proof. It'll take a tank cannon to blast a hole through these babies."

"Sweet," Harry said softly and the others let out an 'uh huh' in agreement.

Hermione's eyes though were drawn to the wand in Boltrock's hands and with a grin he held it up and said, "Pre-charged Expulso wand for non-wand-compatible magical beings. Excellent for clearing blockades, barricades and the like."

"That must be very useful if you can't wield a normal wand," Hermione said as she stared at the wand while Boltrock put it away again.

Boltrock nodded in agreement and folded the shield back up before showing them where to store it on the EXO, just above the place of the weapon case. He walked back to the table and took a hold of the piece of cloth. Giving it a pull, he revealed what had been hidden beneath it.

Five steel swords were laying on the table. They were simple and not much to look at but still the kids were excited. After Boltrock motioned for them to do so, they all took one of the swords and Harry being Harry, he immediately pressed his finger past the blade's edge. To his disappointment, and his wives' relief, the blade was as dull as could be.

"They're not sharp," Harry complained while rubbing his head after Hermione had pulled the sword from his hands and knocked him on the head with it.

"No Mister Potter they are not sharp," Boltrock replied while showing a sharp toothy grin, "and the reason for that has just been superbly demonstrated by you yourself. These are training swords, used by every Legionnaire when they begin their training in the art of sword fighting. These blades are charmed so that they will keep track with your level of skill. If you look closely, you will see that the fuller has a small silver bar at the bottom, just above the cross guard. That bar will grow as your skill increases. When the fuller is completely filled with silver, your skill will be high enough that you can be safely handed a real sword.

Your mothers will explain it further when your lessons begin, but the average Legionnaire takes between eight and ten months of two hours daily training before they move on to a real sword. I would advise not to get to attached to these as you will be required to give them back when you no longer need them."

They all nodded in understanding and placed the swords back on the table while Boltrock turned to Luna. "Miss Emrys, I will be coming by the Manor later tonight to install your control chip, as it is a momentous occasion and I'm sure your mothers will want to be present."

Luna made a small bow in thanks while Boltrock removed the weapon's case from its place on the EXO's back. He put it on the table and enlarged it before opening it. Taking a step back he motioned for Luna to take his place and said, "If you would, please show me if you remember how to assemble an assault rifle version of the MWS."

Luna nodded and dug in her memory for the short lesson Gabrielle had given her about the weapon. She picked the parts as well as she could remember and put them together under the watchful eyes of Boltrock and the others. When she was done she stepped back and Boltrock nodded before picking up the rifle.

He pointed it upwards and pulled the trigger, only to find it missing. When Harry let out a soft snigger, Boltrock raised his eyebrows and tossed the weapon to Harry with the words, "Well Mister Potter since you find this so amusing, please take it apart again and turn it into a machinegun."

Harry's face fell immediately, and he sputtered, "But sir, we haven't been shown how to do that yet."

"I don't give a shit," Boltrock replied coldly before grinning at the girls.

Over the next fifteen minutes Boltrock had Harry put the weapon in every configuration, _before_ he showed the girls and a grumbling Harry how to do it properly. Over the next hour he let the girls try their hand at it, before giving Harry a second chance.

Just as Harry was struggling with the shotgun variation, Lieutenant Saint-Claire entered the workshop and cleared her throat. "Sir, it is time. The guests are arriving, and the Ladies asked me to bring you back to the castle."

Boltrock nodded and said, "Very well lieutenant, if you give me a minute, we'll follow you." He walked to Harry and after snapping his fingers, Harry handed him the weapon. He disassembled it, replaced the parts on their proper place and placed the case back on the EXO, all within one minute.

When they reached the surface again, they all climbed back in a Humvee, which Saint-Claire then drove quickly towards the castle.

They arrived just behind another pair of Humvee's, from which President Thomas O'Neill and his delegation stepped out. Along with the president had came the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, the Secretary of Defense and half a dozen military commanders. To the quartet's pleasure, both General O'Hara and Admiral Newport where amongst them.

The only one amongst the American delegation who reacted to the kids' appearance was the man in the black suit flanking the president. Mike Banning tensed when he recognized Harry and Hermione and only relaxed when Lieutenant Saint-Claire cleared her throat to have them make room so Boltrock could enter the castle. When the kids followed him and Saint-Clair in, they were then themselves followed by the Americans who looked their eyes out at their surroundings.

When they reached the great hall they split up, Boltrock walked to the front, joining Aurora, Gabrielle, Anderson, and the rest of High Command. Saint-Claire led the kids to the side of the hall, close to the place where Ivan and the Black Angels stood in formation. The Americans took their place in the line of delegations that were waiting to pay their respects to the fallen.

Apparently, the Americans had been the last to arrive, as no others entered after them. When they looked around the hall, the kids could recognize several delegations by way of their escorts. Jean-Paul escorted a group of stiff Frenchmen, Sergeant Holstein stood with a group of Germans, and Ilona was standing next to her uncle and his delegation. Elizabeth stood nearest to the High Command, with Prime Minister Hodgins and Chief of Staff Murphy.

One group that stood apart from all the others, was the group led by a man with short black hair and an inch-long black beard. He wore the dress uniform of the Royal Scots Regiment and carried a sabre on his left hip. Flanking him on both sides were three highlanders in military dress uniform including kilts, and one bagpiper in full regalia. They thought correctly that this was Lord Robert Bruce, though the reason for his presence was still a mystery to both them and everyone else.

When the Americans had finished paying their respects, Aurora stepped forward and spoke, "I would like to thank all of you for your presence today. If you would follow me, we will proceed to the mausoleum for the ceremony." When she finished, groups of Legionnaires stepped from the sides of the hall and in fours they took up the coffins and followed Anderson out of the hall.

Aurora and Gabrielle led the procession behind the pallbearers, with the delegations following them. Saint-Claire motioned for the kids to follow behind Ivan and the Black Angels, who were in turn following the delegations.

When they exited the front gates, they found the entirety of the Legion standing at attention on either side of the path as an honor guard. A trio of AS-90 self-propelled guns stood ready to give a 21-gun salute, and the Legion's own military band stood ready before the mausoleum.

In a slow procession, the coffins of the fallen were carried towards the platform where they were placed on the waiting tables. After the coffins were in place, the ones who had carried them retreated down from the platform and took up positions on both sides of it.

Once the platform was clear, the guests all took their places. The next of kin were on the first rows, followed by the heads of state and their delegations. Legion High Command was seated on a row that stood at an angle to the others and close to the platform.

When everyone was seated, Anderson stood up and approached the lectern that had been placed on a step before the platform. Letting out a sigh, he plucked a piece of paper with notes from his pocket and placed it before him on the lectern. "Hello everyone, I'd like to start with once again conferring my condolences to the families and loved ones of our fallen. I know when I speak for everyone here when I say, none of us can do what we have to do without the support of our families and loved ones.

I know that some of you might have questions about the circumstances in which your loved one has died, so I will tell you." This caused a few surprised looks as up until now, the Legion had maintained a strict secrecy policy.

"As you all know, a decade ago, the United Nations Special Forces were created to counter the threat of international terrorism and border-crossing major crimes. What some of you might not know is that before the U.N.S.F. were formed, we were merely a part of the British armed forces focused on internal terrorism. The last group we fought was, we thought, defeated a decade ago and the last members of it either killed or locked up.

Three days ago, there was an outside assisted breakout at the prison where those terrorists were held, and we were the first to be alerted. Each of our fallen was a member of our rapid response units. I want you all to know that they did their duty to the last and stood bravely and against overwhelming numbers. They died as heroes, and that is how we shall remember them."

Next, he named each of the fallen by name, where they had come from and who they were as individuals. When he was finished, he invited each of the governmental leaders to say a few words. Each of them did and when they were done, the band began to play the 5 national anthems in turn, as the pallbearers went back up the platform to take up their burden again.

They waited until the band finished, and when they did, the coffins were lifted and carried on the last part of their journey. Through the white marble doors, the coffins where carried into the mausoleum and placed on the simple marble tables joining the 73 already resting there. When the coffins had been placed, one Legionnaire stepped forward with a bugle and as all present stood at either a respectful pose or in case of the soldiers, a military salute, the Legionnaire played the Last Post before the flags of the Legion where removed and neatly folded into a triangle which was then presented to the next of kin by Anderson.

When the last flag had been handed over and the group moved back outside, the two pipers began playing and the tones of Amazing Grace where brought forth. Lord Bruce joined the melody by singing the words in his deep baritone voice. After the first couplet he was joined by Aurora and Gabrielle who added their voices as the doors of the mausoleum where slowly closed and finally sealed as the hymn faded into silence.

Shortly after, the three AS-90's opened fire with blanks and brought their 21-gun salute before the gathering slowly dispersed. The delegations returned to the travel room to get back to their respective countries, while the Legionnaires returned to their barracks. The families and friends of the fallen headed to the airfield from where they would be brought to Heathrow to return home.

Saint-Claire brought the kids to Aurora and Gabrielle where they were waiting at the viewing window of the mausoleum, going over the list of engraved names, now numbering 92. To their curiosity, but not unexpectedly, they were followed by Lord Bruce who stayed at a respectful distance until Aurora and Gabrielle were done hugging the kids.

"My Ladies," he said softly while making a small bow to them. "Firstly, I would like to once again offer my condolences, with your losses." Both nodded in thanks at this before he went on, "And secondly I wanted to offer my help."

This caused a slightly curious raising of eyebrows as he continued, "Despite what you might think of me, and the Clans, we are not stupid, nor are we unable to see when our world is threatened, and action has to be undertaken. I have my sources and from all that I have heard, I drew my own conclusions.

I know that Voldemort is not dead, and I also know that when he eventually comes back, we, the ordinary people of Britain, will be the first to feel his wrath. I don't want to face that enemy on my own, and neither do you I think, so I propose an arrangement. I have been told that you are short on manpower, but because of your extremely high requirements, those numbers are slow to grow."

Aurora nodded at this and Gabrielle said, "That is correct. Our requirements are so high because we only need the best we can get."

"I understand that," Lord Bruce said, "And exactly because of that I have a proposal. I have informed myself amongst the Clans about how many are in the armed forces, and willing to volunteer for a dangerous but crucial mission to safeguard our lands. Of those who replied, there are quite a number who, I think, could make a good addition to your forces, but they don't match your requirements… yet.

So here is my proposal; gather a platoon of the hardest drillmasters you can find and send them to Scotland to get those volunteers up to scratch. Give them say, six months, to get to where you want them and then have them do your selection course. I can't guarantee that they'll all make it, but I do think a large number of them will."

Both Ladies looked intrigued by the proposal and were softly weighing the pros and cons of this proposal and finally Aurora asked, "This all sounds good, but I have two questions. How many volunteers do you have. And what do you want in return." They both had enough experience in politics to know that an offer such as this did not come for free.

A slight grin spread over his face as Lord Bruce answered. "There are around 5,000 volunteers, and what I want in return is three things. I want a place in your High Command. I want command of a regiment of my own Highlanders. And I want the Longaxe to be returned to me, to be held by my clan from now on."

"Out of the question," Aurora shot him down without blinking an eye. "A place in our High Command has to be earned. The command of your Highlanders could be arranged though, _if_ you complete our training course and excel during the selections.

About the Longaxe though, that's a definite no. Arnulf gave it to my House for safekeeping, to use when _we saw fit to do so_. It is not your place to demand it's return. And besides, it's useless to you as you have been rejected I seem to remember."

The real reason was of course that the Longaxe had already chosen Neville as its wielder, but they did not want that news to get out before Neville was ready to take up command.

Bruce was visibly displeased by her answer but before he could respond, Gabrielle intervened. Se held out her hand and said, "Give me your hand Lord Bruce." He looked a bit confused but did as she said. As soon as his hand touched hers, she brought the full might of her mental power to bear on his mind and broke through his mediocre Occlumency barriers in less than a second.

As soon as she had full control of his mind, she forced him to make a magical oath not to reveal anything he had heard or would hear that day and once that was done, she removed the entire thing from his memory. This left him unable to speak a word about it but he would not know why.

They usually tried to avoid solving problems in this way, as they hated having to mess with people in their most private thoughts, but sometimes it could not be helped.

When she was done she released his hand and snapper her fingers, bringing him back to his own mind. As soon as his eyes cleared, Aurora said, "We cannot give the Longaxe to you Bruce, because the axe has already accepted a new wielder."

"WHAT," he yelled in shock and anger, "Why wasn't… why… me… what… why did you not inform me about that!?"

"We did not tell you," Gabrielle responded calmly, "because the person in question is only 13 years old. He is in training along with our own children and we will introduce him once he is ready, but not a day earlier. I trust that you will respect our wishes and his privacy in this matter?" She finished with a slight mental nudge and he nodded.

"Of course my Lady. I will order all volunteers to assemble at a location of your choosing and we shall await the arrival of your drillmasters."

"Thank you Lord Bruce," Gabrielle responded while both she and her wife inclined their heads respectfully. He repeated the gesture before briskly turning around and marching of towards the city, followed by his escorts.

"What was that all about mom?" Harry asked curiously as he and the girls approached them.

"Doesn't matter right now Harry," Aurora replied off-handedly. "We'll tell you later, after we've returned home. For now though, let's go find Anderson, I have a job for him before we go home."

Author's note:

I am so sorry it took me so long to upload this, but the last part with the funeral took me about three re-writes to get it to where I somewhat liked it, though I'm still not entirely satisfied with it.

I hope you all liked the chapter, let me know if you did, I do love getting reviews.

As for further updates, I hope to get them out faster, as we're approaching an event I'm rather looking forward to so writing it should be easier.

Anyway till next time,

Medieval Maniak


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